The oneness of us

I woke up early this morning and prayed as usual. After prayer I wasn't in a space to easily drift back into sleep so I turned the light on and looked for a book. I'm still at Yuri's place in Oakland sleeping in her son's room. I hoped I would find a book more adult than Thomas the train. Not that Thomas isn't a really cool train.

I found a book on the dresser next to the bed called EARTH PRAYERS. The pages spoke to me as I began flipping through. It's a book of prayers and poems by people of many backgrounds. Just what I like. I am moved by the knowing that we are all connected. We are connected with each other and to all life on this planet. To all life everywhere. When we look at life without the separateness we create it becomes harder to hate, fear, criticize others. We are them. They are us. In some way, we are all one.

The following is one of the poems I found as I went through the book.

The mountains, I become part of it...
The herbs, the fir tree, I become part of it.
The morning mists, the clouds, the gathering waters,
I become part of it...

That poem is a Navajo chant.

I turned the light off and as I got back into bed I began listing in my head many ways that we are connected to each other that we may not take time to be present to. The farmers plant and pick the food we eat. The animals live and die and become food for many of us. The bus driver takes us to work, takes our children to school. Mail carriers bring our mail. Men and women wake up early to clean our streets and take away our trash. The list of course is endless. We turn our noses up at groups of people every day who make our lives better. The connection we have to each other is much deeper than the work we do for each other, but it is a part of it.

What if we saw our own faces in the faces we try to look beyond?