Recently, my youngest daughter won a scholarship to spend her senior year of high school as an exchange student in Germany. She will leave late this month or in early August, and return next June.
As a parent, I am proud and nervous — proud of her achievement and courage in spending a year away from everything she knows, and nervous at the prospect of having my child so far away for so long. Most of all, though, I am excited that she will have the opportunity to experience the concept of global connectedness — that we are all one people, no matter what part of the world we live in.
Some go through life without a true understanding of the essential reality of other places, other cultures, other people. We read and hear of cities and countries in the news, but it may not seem real to us in the same sense that events involving our own cities and neighbors feel real. Sometimes there is an “us and them” mindset that most of us aren’t consciously aware of. Thus, when we read about the latest war casualties in the Middle East, we may tend to be more focused on “our” losses.
We hear about terrorist bombings in Europe, and we may thank God/dess that it didn’t happen here, to us, but the reality is that everything happens here and to us, when “here” is the Earth that we all share, and “us” is all life on our planet. Most religions have in common the concept of a divine creator; we call that power “God,” “Allah,” “Krishna,” “Goddess Mother.” There are as many names and faces for the divine as there are nationalities and cultures.
Within the structure of whatever form this manifests to us, I believe that we are all his/her children. Therefore, although our gods wear different faces and names, is it so difficult to embrace the concept that they are all one? To me, we are all strands in the same web, sharing one world — home to us all.
Being fortunate enough to have traveled to other parts of the world, I know that the ability to experience another culture firsthand — eating its food, learning its language, breathing its air — is life-changing. Even if I can’t financially manage actual traveling in these difficult times, I can still connect here with others who are different from myself. Making the effort to understand someone who may not be fluent in our language, we can learn about another’s culture or religious beliefs, and do so with respect and an open mind, without judgment.
To me, overcoming fear and prejudice is truly accepting in our hearts that we all know fear, love and joy. Just as my daughter looks upon the faces of others, regardless of their skin color or language, and sees brothers and sisters, rather than strangers — “them” — perhaps we, as a people, also can grow enough in understanding to peacefully share our world with one another.
Lisa Blendheim is an artist who follows a nonspecific goddess-centered path, focusing on the Earth and its cycles. This column is coordinated by Lane Interfaith Alliance to offer inspiration, share personal spiritual experiences and bring a deeper understanding of individual faith perspectives with the intention of blessing our community and world. For information, visit www.laneinterfaithalliance.org or call 344-5693.