different people. same spirit.

to be honest with you, i’m not really concerned with who believes in what. you believe in jesus? great. you don’t? ok. you are buddhist? fine. you worship allah? good. you believe in humans? well, me too. my deepest concern is not who or what you believe in. you do not have to believe as i do, think as i do, or do as i do. the critical thing for me is that all people are connected, no matter what or who we believe in. i happen to believe that we are all connected spiritually, deeply. we are all different on the outside; but on the inside, from our souls, we feel the same things: love, fear, joy, sadness. i believe that we are here to become what we were created to be… fully ourselves, so that our lives can be used to work together to make a difference. life is a journey that we share with one another, meeting each other, helping each other, fighting for (not against) each other, walking with each other as we all are transformed throughout our lives into the image of love that we were created to be. our lives can be used to become love, to share love, and to teach love – no matter who we are or where we are from. perhaps we are really  just all pilgrims on the same journey, taking different paths. a professor of mine once told me that he saw the world’s religions and faiths as different paths on the same mountain, different ways to meet the same God/Creator/Holy One.

this sunday, in the Christian church we celebrate pentecost… another of my favorite times in the life of the church year. every year, 50 days after easter and 10 days after ascension day we celebrate the day that the holy spirit came down to earth. i like to think of the spirit as the connection between humans. on that first pentecost sunday, people from many countries were gathered in the same place (in jerusalem), but they couldn’t understand each other. then, with wind & fire, the Spirit touched some place deep in the souls of the followers of Jesus and they all began to speak in different languages. all the others who had gathered could now understand. the spirit did it’s thing; and all people, though different on the outside, were connected. understanding each other. feeling some sense of bond that inspired them to begin to work together.

today, we have the same connection with each other i believe. i see it every day. anytime people gather together to chat, to laugh, to cry, to learn, to work, i am reminded of it. though there are many things that are different about us, there is really much more, much deeper, that is the same. how can we live and ignore that? how can we stay closed up in our minds or in our hearts? how can we refuse to meet with each other, talk with each other, discover each other? why are we afraid of one another’s differences? it’s a beautiful thing… these differences. and the most beautiful thing is when we realize that, even though we may speak different languages or live in different places, we are connected by our souls, the spirit is within.

and when we begin to realize & accept that truth (i believe), then we will begin to believe in each other and begin to believe that love does win, this world is amazing, and life is a beautiful mystery meant to be shared with one another.

tomorrow i have the joy of taking a road trip with my swedish classes to stockholm! a bunch of immigrants on the loose… all from different places, speaking different languages, having lived different experiences; but sharing a day together – connected by swedish, the desire to be accepted, the fight to find our places in a new society, & the excitement of new adventures together. we’ve come from all over the world and made sweden our home. but even deeper than that, we are all humans, connected from deep within.

my dear friends, i wish you a wonderful wednesday. may you feel love, hope, and spirit moving inside you & inspiring your day. you are not alone. we are all connected.

peace.