(obviously this writing has become IRREGULAR... - sorry!)
These are times of great division in our country and our world. To counter that people of good will try to bring people and groups of people together to talk, communicate... AND find Common Ground.... While that clearly seems like a good idea.. the idea to share common interests and goals and passions, etc. etc.. THUS bridging the differences and gaps ... I have another idea!
My idea is similarly based on there being common grounds upon which most people stand... BUT rather than search and demonstrate that --- let us accept that such commonalities exist such as: all people want peace and security. All people want food and shelter. All people want love and affection. All people want to be healthy and maybe wealthy, too. AND ALSO - while there clearly is hate and hostility and anxiety -- most if not all people do not want to hate and kill and worry. I understand that people in various parts of the world, in various situations... feel hate and worry and act with hostility... Those are reactions to very bad situations AND young people learn to hate and act agressively because of their situations and the situations of their parents and their parent's parents and their families... and so a cycle of hard times builds up anxiety and hostility and hate. YET -- given times of peace and security and good shelter and plenty of food -- I think people will and can turn towards the positive commonalities we all essentially share! And the positives are more likely to be sustainable than the negatives which include violence!
SO - to summarize and be comprehensive all people want:
peace
security
food
shelter
love
affection
AND all people can:
hate
be hostile
have anxieties
A POINT TO CONSIDER: when people of good will try to bridge divisions and bring people together I think the negatives are ignored and the positives are emphasized... and the consequence of feeding the positives and ignoring the negatives is a lack of results because the authentic reality is a mix of all the good and the bad. What is common to us all are ALL OUR EMOTIONS, NEEDS, WANTS.
So - ASSUME THE COMMONALITIES... and then work on the differences. Consider the differences DISTINCTIONS. Share the special things, ways, food, etc.. that The OTHER has, does --- that is different. Learn to understand differences and see them as distinctions to be appreciated and respected. THE DIFFICULT thing to do is to learn how to see and understand and either tolerate or accept The Other and all they bring to our world.
There are two similar but different teachings most of us have heard and I've been wrong about which is more important - OR they both are...
One I have thought was easier is:
Don't do to others that which you would not like done to you...
The second is:
love others as you would like to be loved.
The first thought seems easier since we may all know what is harmful to us and what harms us is also likely to harm others. The second thought seems more difficult since there are so many ways to love... Love yourself, your spouse, your child, your neighbor, etc etc... Hard is simpler and somewhat limited while love is expansive and complex and nuanced and so very, very varied!
Bottom line is - do no harm AND love, love, love!
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