Global Values
A New Paradigm for a New World
by Karin Miller
II. Community
By joining forces with others, we will realize our full potential.
While unity is life’s natural state of being, community must happen by choice. Community means supporting our fundamental unity in all that we do. When we do so, we commune and cooperate with those around us. In community, we choose to honor the connections we have with the unified whole of life. We choose to act for the benefit of all the small communities we are part of—families, local religious centers, towns. We choose to act in community with our state or nation. We choose to act together and in alignment with all of humanity and all of life, including the animals, trees, forests, sea creatures, and all living things.
Separation from the greater whole of life, or a lack of a sense of community with the whole body of life, creates "dis-ease" and illness. People experience this dis-ease on a personal level; for example, studies indicate that certain addictions may be correlated with a sense of isolation and disconnection from others and, similarly, people have greater chances of recovery when they have support networks. Organizations face similar dis-ease when the employees are not valued and treated as integral parts of the organizational system. Nations too feel the dis-ease of isolated action within a global community, or when the citizens do not feel represented by their leaders.
Many people approach life as if they live in bubbles of isolation rather than from a holistic perspective; however, a simple shift in one’s thinking can expand such a limited vision to reveal connections everywhere. We are like waves in one ocean of creation—like sunbeams radiating from one sun. By simply reaching out to our neighbors, we realize that we all have shared goals and challenges and if we join forces, we may have all the tools and resources we need already available to us. Sometimes, just by breaking free from our self-limiting viewpoints and experiencing a sense of community and support, that feeling alone is enough to cure ourselves from the diseases of disconnection. With a more holistic perspective that takes into consideration the collective context in which we live, we open the door to the possibility of discovering remedies to our individual, community, and national challenges together.
By building communities, we have the opportunity to share our strengths and overcome our weaknesses. Each person has unique qualities that he or she can bring to a group. One person has special technical skills and another is gifted in artistic expression. One person is a talented mother and another addresses fatherhood in his own unique way. One person grows our food and another delivers it. One person creates the law and another enforces it. One makes us laugh and another touches our hearts to make us cry. One person connects the dots of the work done by others to create an entirely new thing. We recognize in community that by combining our individual strengths we are more powerful than we ever could be alone.
Each person is an individual expression of life itself just as each flower is a unique expression of beauty. When we look at a field of daisies, all of the flowers may all blend into one white sea, but upon closer inspection, each flower has its own characteristics that make it unique. Some may stand up tall, some may bend to the left or to the right. Some may be tattered and others may have slightly different colors. Some are dying and some are just starting to blossom. The beauty of community comes when each individual is a fully actualized expression of himself or herself.
When we remove the blocks within ourselves that limit our capabilities, we allow life to flow through us and actualize the intention of the universe through us. It is as if each of us is an instrument being played by the universe in one song of creation. One can think of humanity as a full symphony composed of string instruments, tubas, trombones, flutes and percussion. Without any one instrument, the complete score could not be fully expressed. Everything plays a fundamental part in the grand symphony of creation, and we are all the instruments of life. For the orchestra to reach its full potential, each individual must be fully expressed in harmony with the other members.
Valuing community means understanding that the various roles we play in our lives affect other people, and the body of life as a whole. It means taking responsibility for our actions, and ensuring that we work for the benefit of all. Every day we make decisions that affect others. When we are aware of this, and choose to act in community, we do our best to make sure that our actions are generally supportive rather than harmful. The choices we make every day range from the smallest kindness on a personal level to major decisions that will affect many people. For example: if we have elderly neighbors we can help them with their shopping or take out their garbage; we can offer our seats on crowded trains and buses to people who need them more than we do; if we have children, we can volunteer to assist at their schools or for after-school programs; if we are civil servants we can go a little bit out of our way to help someone get what they need; if we are lawyers we can do pro bono work; if we are architects and engineers we can design energy efficient, healthy buildings; if we are doctors we can offer free services in times of crisis and disaster. We have the power to make choices every day that support community as a value, and that help us build strong communities and support networks.
Each of our actions and choices affect many individuals and communities. In turn, our communities affect, and are affected by, all the other communities on the planet. To value community is to value the many communities—the many circles of life—around the world. It benefits us all to work together as one integrated system composed of many interdependent parts. When we value community we imagine ourselves in the shoes of people in other communities, and join forces for mutual benefit.
While we are, as individuals, invaluable in and of ourselves—unique expressions of life and part of the whole— we must work as communities if we wish to be truly effective. Together we can overcome individual shortcomings and join strengths as a powerful force for social transformation. When many people take this approach, each community will make choices and take actions that are more sustainable in the context of the whole. In community, we have the opportunity to communicate and work with each other in cooperation, and to live in unity.
The human body as a microcosm of the whole
A human body can be seen as a microcosm of the body of humanity. In a healthy body, all the cells, tissues, and organs work together. When humanity is healthy, individuals, communities, and countries work together. Diseases and illnesses plague our individual bodies as social ills plague the body of humanity. As individuals, we are like cells in the body of humanity, and the potential and abilities of the cells in our bodies are like the potential and abilities that we have vis-à-vis the body of humanity.
When cells stop cooperating with other cells, begin multiplying uncontrollably, and potentially endanger the body they produce cancer. In the macrocosm of humanity, some groups are asserting their strengths to the detriment of the whole—just as cancer cells do in the body. Cancer cells are only a threat when the body is weakened and stressed; they do not survive and thrive in a healthy body with a strong immune system. In the body of humanity, conflicts between apparent opposites are caused by a lack of cooperation and losing sight of the fact that we are one. The threats posed by this lack of cooperation are lessened when we strengthen the body of humanity by joining together as one community.
Like embryonic stem cells that can become any cell in a body, we too are capable of becoming many things. Once the embryonic stem cells differentiate into adult stem cells and all the other cells that make up a body, each cell will have a particular function. After differentiation, adult stem cells can change into particular cells as needed, and every cell still contains the genetic blueprint, the DNA, for the whole. As individuals, we all have the ability and DNA to fulfill many roles, but we often have specific skills and duties assigned to us in this life. Although our families, communities, or societies may guide us into certain roles, we still have the responsibility of ensuring that our roles do not go against our values. We can choose to fulfill this role or that role. We are free to choose whether we work for or against the whole. Young people who live in areas filled with gang violence can follow in the footsteps of their peers and join a gang, or they can choose to take a different path that supports the development of their communities instead. Those who are attracted to terrorist groups can choose to protect their cultures or religious beliefs through violence, or they can choose to be instruments of love and peacefully show the world the richness and beauty of their cultures and religions. The point is that, as individuals, we choose what to make of our lives. If we are not happy with the place we have been guided to, we can go somewhere else. Like embryonic stem cells, we have the ability and DNA to fulfill many roles. No matter where we come from, or where we are, we can all seek ways to work together for the greater good.
Valuing community means working together as one— from all our differing perspectives—for the health of the body of humanity and the body of life. Every human is a unique, differentiated individual with specific strengths and weaknesses. Both the collective body of humanity and the individual human body work most efficiently, and to their fullest potential, when all parts perform their strengths together. Everyone has the chance to shine when individual gifts are combined. The combined strengths compensate for individual weaknesses, and the whole is fortified.
The Golden Rule
The Golden Rule is a maxim based on reciprocity— one should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself. The idea dates from ancient times, and it is a precept found in many cultures and religions. For example, in Islam, "Not one of you truly believes until you wish for others that which you wish for yourself"; in Buddhism, "Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful"; in Judaism, "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you"; and in Christianity, "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye so to them; for this is the law and the prophets". When we understand that we are one and choose to live in community, the Golden Rule can serve as the foundation for a new ethics. We refrain from treating others in ways that one would not like to be treated because we understand that doing something to another equates to doing it to oneself. Conversely, taking actions that benefit others also benefit ourselves, and this will ensure that individuals act to the benefit of their communities. When we choose to live by the Golden Rule, we agree to work in partnership with each other, our communities, and the whole.
To date, the Golden Rule has never been successfully implemented on a broad scale. There have always been those who would deviate from this principle, acting only for personal gain and manipulating others for their own benefit. In the face of global terrorism or, on a local level, in an environment of gang violence, it may seem unsafe and unwise to practice the Golden Rule. How can society possibly overcome violence and "us versus them" perspectives to realize the benefits of cooperating as one global community? As stated by Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, in a 2007 essay entitled A Battle for Global Values, "[Y]ou cannot defeat a fanatical ideology just by imprisoning or killing its leaders; you have to defeat its ideas. [. . .] We will not win the battle against global extremism unless we win it at the level of values as much as that of force." Although the Prime Minister was not promoting empathy and reciprocity in this statement, he did suggest that a transformation in values is the key to both our safety and security. While the use of force may be appropriate in certain circumstances, we must seek a perceptual shift from divided communities to a more unified, holistic and global approach. By setting the Golden Rule as our standard, we provide a benchmark for appropriate action and a context in which to gauge what is healthy and what is harmful to ourselves, our communities and the world. As an increasing number of people adopt such values, this new perspective has the potential to become the standard view.
Our experiment with separation and isolation has strengthened our character and allowed us to become fully developed as individuals, but our journey does not end there. Nothing lasting can be accomplished in isolation. With courage and determination we can break free from the shackles of our narrow perception of ourselves as separate and isolated individuals to realize our unified and interdependent nature. Grounded in our unity, we then choose to live in community, sharing our talents and skills to be fully expressed version of ourselves. Only together can we realize our full potential.