“By myth I do not imply ‘fiction’, but more the weaving of patterns that we unconsciously recognise as the core of being, both within and without us. Myth is as near as words, through poetry and metaphor, can get to the wholeness of perfect truth.” Alan Garner
Below, a photograph of the Dorset Holloway I walked last week.
I am faced daily with a juxtaposition - the scenes on the news from the Middle East and the madness of the American Election and the goodness I know is in people’s hearts.
You see humanity is not a cloak that people can put on when it is convenient to do so. Humanity is the word we use for people as a whole, as in all people of all colours, religions and creeds. If some people are denied their part of the whole, that leads to a deterioration of the whole and a diminishing of all the people. We are being called upon to use the essential threads of our lives to weave a culture of genuinely inclusive humanity. This is becoming very clear during these times when we have time and space to reflect on what is really important. Eternal things during these times matter.
The word crisis comes directly from the ancient Greek healers, who used the word to describe a turning point in a disease. In this situation, the disease is racism and division and the change called for up to my mind requires that the pain and suffering be distributed to all parts of the whole. There can be no healing, if certain groups of people are required to carry all the pain and injustice. An old proverb says, "If you know what harms yourself, you then know what injures others." Thus, the more a person feels the depth of their own humanity, the more human everyone else becomes to them. Ultimately, there is no neutral place when it comes to granting humanity to all people. Another proverb warns that "not to aid those in distress is to kill them in your heart."
The question now becomes how we find humane ways to quell the flames and not allow ourselves to become even more divided and alienated from each other.
When it comes down to the nature of humanity, and the essence of the human soul, there are two basic and opposite stories that tend to persist. One story considers each person to be an accidental being, who enters the world as a blank slate or empty soul after birth. Elements of family, social factors and education, shape and define that person's identity and in a sense the value of their life. The blank slate story easily leads to ideas of social determinism, in which entire groups of people can be not just denied opportunities, but also be dismissed as being less than human.
The other basic story of the human soul begins with the sense that each person born brings something essential to life. In this story, each soul is unique and each person is naturally gifted and imbued with meaning and life purpose. In this kind of story, the role of society becomes that of helping each person born to awaken to an inner dream that gives their life meaning and purpose.
This second story is the most universal tale of humanity, in which each person, regardless of race or color, background or orientation, comes to life bearing gifts, and each can then be seen to have an inner nobility and natural dignity. On that basis, no group can claim to be superior, or more human because of race or appearance, because of history or background. On that basis, those who deny the basic humanity and dignity of other people only reveal their own lack of humanity.
History, as people used to say, is written in the depths of the individual human soul. If we insist on denying a genuine sense of humanity to some, we can only continue to lose our way and further lose our own souls. If we open ourselves to the understanding that we are literally all in the same story, each suffering in our own way, we may find genuine ways to help heal and protect each other while restoring a sense of genuine humanity in ways that bring more meaning and more soul and more beauty to the world.
We would do well to remember that true change always comes from the margins!
Engraved patterns in the Holloway wall.
Fear not for you are blessed.
Give no thought for your life,
It will naturally flow
as river meets the sea.
Life lives In the
dance of light and dark,
In the fire flies
and the clouds.
Stars will guide you,
trees will shelter you.
And you will be free
In word and deed.
Thanks for reading - David
Thank you Philip - I always enjoy your responses and greatly appreciate your support. Please do recommend and I will have a look. What a week. America is still the Wild West.
Beautiful and well needed during these times. Thank you