No “other,” only “us.”

True understanding is not distinguishing how you are different but discerning how you are the same. There may be rivalries between towns, rivalries between people, rivalries between nations. There is a place for competition and rivalry when it is for the purpose of appreciating, of holding up as an illustration of resilience, dedication, skill, personal sacrifice, teamwork, working with others. Those are all perfectly normal, but that kind of differentiation can quickly divide people and nations and intensify that sense of otherness.

There is no “other.” There is only “us.” The reality is a “we” not a “me” as an essence of truth. It is always disturbing to witness such emphasis on other, such emphasis on the need to dominate, to control, to dictate, to manipulate.

The trajectory of human existence is a bit like a wave which flows and ebbs and flows again and retreats. There are times within the existence of human beings when there is a sense of unity. That sense breaks down in divisions. Separateness becomes all-important, but that separation eventually exhausts itself, and in its place comes a thirst for unity, a thirst for peace, a thirst for an end to such separation. The general trajectory of human life is toward unity, but that trajectory takes place over millennia in human terms, and it is never a straight line.