People need to belong to each other, to just “be” together and present for one another.

So much of our belonging is a specialized belonging. We belong to one group or another, each with it’s own persuasion. This is not bad. The trouble comes when we identify with a particular group and set ourselves apart from others by virtue of that identity. When we no longer dwell within intimate range with those “unlike” ourselves. In this situation, it is so easy to lose something of our basic humanity. The “other” arises as someone different and distant. We create ideas about “them” and we keep our distance.

When all sorts of folks are thrust together in a way that they are bound together by necessity, something important can happen. Our hearts can crack open to the recognition of our basic humanity. And that is a good thing. We come back home to a deeper understanding of who we really are– human beings living together on Mother Earth.