This month’s theme question: What does it mean to be a people of interdependence?
On the 4th of July the country celebrates its independence, specifically our declaration in 1776 of our independence from Britain. The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4th of that year, and its stirring words about equality and freedom have inspired generations and has the power to inspire still – even recognizing its glaring limitations.
“All men are created equal,” for instance, we know was intended to refer only to white, male, property owners – African Americans, women, and poor white men were excluded. Nonetheless its rhetoric has been seen as containing more truth than its authors knew, which is why the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called it a “promissory note” that had not yet been cashed. As we grow in our understanding, that “all” keeps growing.
It can be argued that the Declaration of Independence set the tone for the nation’s narrative. The mythology of the country’s dominant culture is replete with lone heroes, individuals who as individuals survived and thrived on their own. Even today, there are those who argue that a person’s achievements (say, for instance, financial success) is theirs and theirs alone, stemming solely from their own personal efforts. This is nothing but the cult of the individual in action.
“No [one] is an island, entire of itself,” wrote the poet John Donne in the 1624. “Every [one] is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” This tendency toward individualism must be part of the human condition … why else would someone living nearly 400 years ago feel the need to write such a sentiment?
Yet this month’s theme question encourages us to think of ourselves as “a people of interdependence.” What do we think that means – conceptually, of course, but practically as well, in the way(s) we live our lives? What does it mean, what could it mean, to think of yourself as “a piece of the continent” rather than an “island entire of itself?” And what do you think it means, or could mean, to you and to our congregation to think of this as a particularly Unitarian Universalist value? (Not unique, of course, but a perspective we affirm because of our Unitarian Universalism.)
During these “lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer,” I invite you to ponder these things.
Say “hello” to someone you don’t know during coffee hour and ask them what they think about this. Talk about this idea of interdependence with your friends and family over some barbecue (if that’s your thing). When you take your dog for a walk in the woods, consider in what ways you are connected even while there.
Pax tecum,
RevWik