I dismissed it when I heard about the story. I figured it was a bizarre scene from a TV show. But it wasn’t.
There was a video tape for all to see and to hear. A lawyer implied before an incredulous 3 judge panel that the federal government, which is legally obligated to provide safe and sanitary conditions for treatment of migrant children in its custody, did not have to provide soap, toothbrushes, or beds for the detained children.
As one judge noted, it should be common knowledge that if you don’t have a toothbrush or soap or a blanket, it’s not a safe and sanitary environment - particularly for kids. On top of that, the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights condemned the “undignified and damaging” conditions in which migrants are held at the U.S. border and called for children to not ever be put in immigration detention or separated from their families.
This is not to suggest that immigration laws be ignored or that we not maintain the integrity of our borders. It simply means that, in the process, we recognize we are part of an interconnected human family that is bound together on a soul level, and whatever we do directly to one person we indirectly do to all people, including ourselves.
This, as Dr. King noted, is “the interrelated structure of reality.” In other words, we truly are one and ought to live from the realization of this oneness. When we do, we move closer to fulfilling our potential as spiritual beings and dissolve the illusion we are separate from each other as well as the Presence of God.
The illusion of separateness, which is the shadow side of humanity, is strongly entrenched in the collective consciousness. However, just as when the astronauts viewed the earth from a distance, and had the spiritual epiphany that the lines drawn on the maps are nothing but human constructs, we too can realize the belief in otherness is an illusion.
So how can we as a society and a world realize and live out our oneness? It is a question worth contemplating if we are to create a world in which the cancerous energy of hate no longer exists. And, we have a world in which everyone, regardless of national origin, citizenship status, race, culture or religious background are treated as the wonderful children of God we all are.
It starts with our individual consciousness. First, we must be the vision we want to see in this world. As the age-old axiom states, “as within so without.” Everything we see in our world unfolds from center to circumference. As a result, we begin with ourselves. When our consciousness aligns with the unchanging qualities of God, we take action in the outer that corresponds with that awareness.
One such God quality is compassion. As it says is Psalm 145:9, “The Lord is good to all; She showers compassion on all Her creations.” When we see the world with compassionate eyes and hearts, we will treat others as we want to be treated. And we will recognize there are no “others.” There is only us and we are all one.
Peace and Blessings,
James
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