Our Human Family

Posted by joereilly on Jan 22, 2020 | 0 comments

“We are the tribe of human beings. We are family. We are related. As self-evident as that may seem to some of us, it is an historic recognition that has yet to be achieved…Humanity still suffers daily and deeply from religious intolerance, racial violence, and endemic warfare. The most fundamental lessons of kinship seem to elude us.”
~Steven Charleston, The Four Vision Quests of Jesus

I am very familiar with fear. I know the fear of loneliness, the fear of failure, the fear of being unworthy of love, and the fear of change. I know the fear of suffering and pain, and the big fear of death. I know the fear of being vulnerable, of getting hurt, and the fear of being truly present in my relationships.

And yet my humanity calls me to overcome this fear with courage, to love and be loved even at the risk of being hurt, and to be in right relationship with myself and with my fellow humans, even the ones who disrupt my serenity.

I know that to confront fear with more fear only adds to collective suffering. I know that I must dig deep in myself to cultivate the mindfulness that allows me to embrace my fear with compassion and love. And I know that I cannot do this alone, that I can only transform my fear with the support of community.

I look to you as a part of that Beloved Community. When we join together in song, when we smile to one another, when we support each other in living and acting with kindness and compassion, we are helping to transform our world. We are recognizing our place within this human family, and are honoring our relationships with one another. We are recognizing the fear, embracing it with strong and gentle arms, and growing our collective love.

In this New Year when many in our society, including our current President, seem ready to act out of fear and lead us towards division, hatred, and war, let us work together to grow our collective love and courage.

To All My Relations,

Joe