As I sat pondering Interdependence, I learned of today’s collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, caused by a cargo ship colliding with it. I had a visceral response: a sweeping sensation of energy – compassion (and goose bumps), an ache in my heart.
It immediately opened me to all my experiences of collapse: revealing, re-membering myself as part of something larger: the human family, the family of being.
Not just as concept or abstract value. A lived, living and felt reality.
We’ve all experienced forms of collapse: From 9/11 to wild fires to earthquakes to war zones. We are wired to reach out and help.
After 9/11, news from around the world declared, “We are all Americans today”. And then, instead of being lifted by that wave of interdependence, our government declared war on Iraq. Lines were drawn. Compassion faded.
Interdependence is.
It is driven beneath the facade of cultural individualism.
The human family needs us to live from interdependence, if we are to make a shift that will save democracy and the planet.
In our spiritual communities, how will we support one another in becoming more aware and sensitive to our interdependence?
Today I am thinking of the emergency workers, putting themselves at risk to rescue those who were on the bridge, even as the structure continues to collapse. Grateful for their courage. Breathing with them and with their families. Calling myself to be more aware and responsive to our “inter-being”.
May we continue to ask ourselves and to notice:
How is interdependence calling us today? How does it need us?
How will we support one another in living from interdependence?
In Fellowship,
Rev. Mary
