On an unusually warm summer night I find myself walking down the streets of San Francisco with a group of friends. I am recently returned from Afghanistan on my second tour with the Marines, and the city scene is a stark contrast to the places I’ve recently been. In my head, as we walk, I realize the overwhelming plesantness of my situation. The weather is a perfect summer night. The restaurants are teeming with activity that spills out of the open doors and windows then down on the street. Our pace is slowed by a person in an electric wheelchair, but there’s no reason for this to frustrate us. It’s like she’s there as the universes way of forcing us to slow down and appreciate our surroundings. Several blocks down, an ambulance drives through the intersection, seirens wailing. A man passes us going the other direction wearing what can only be described as a onesie, dreadlocks, elton john glasses, and a man purse. I suddenly feel connected to all of it all at once. How great of a place do we live in that we have medics just waiting to help us? How great that you can be born handicapped, but still have the freedom in your life to enjoy the night walk with us? How great that people can dress how they want and live how they want?
Despite the crap that the news showers us with every day insisting that the world is in immediate danger of ending at any given moment- that our neighbors are dangerous and violent. They feed the danger that fuels fear. It’s like the night is proof that the world isnt quite the shitbox everyone keeps saying it is. And if that’s true, then maybe we aren’t such horrible lifeforms after all.
For a while I can see in everyones face, the proof that they love. It’s not always apparent immediately. Some people have forgotten that it’s there, but for this moment- I feel like I can see through all of their convoluted personal bullshit down to somewhere where we all wish every stranger well because they are a human being, and that’s the only reason anyone needs.
The illusion of hosility falls away and I suddenly realize the illusion of conflict. It’s as if we’ve all been fooled into believing our horrible behavior was a normal part of the world. We have believed that the world could be filled, like a giant bowl, with all the bad things that happen, but I have seen that there is no bottom to the container of the world.
The left thinks that the government is an evil body, and the right thinks the terrorists are out to destroy our way of life. But even the most evil men believed they were improving things in the world. Their violence was itself an act of love for humanity. All religeons were founded on ideals of love for fellow man, yet both Christian and Muslim look to pasages for words of hate. We lock our doors, and shut our windows in fear of the outside world when the only thing that is out there is eachother, and deep down none of us have anything to fear from eachother. The evidence is staggering- %100 of internet users want to get in contact with other human beings.
Imagine the change to society if the drug addict felt loved every day by every one. Imagine the change if sexual deviants werent looked down on for talking about their feelings. What if thievs weren’t too proud to ask, and you were selfless enough to give? What if that was just how everyone thought about everyone else? Disputes between countries would be settled with the grace and dignity of the most amicable divorce. What if Israel and Palestine all together at the same time started living together?
We hide behind the excuse that it’s just not possible. One person would start the chain, and like dominos the hate would tumble along. In this time, for the first time ever, there are massive collaborations on global scale. We are all literally connected by wires and networks that we can see, and not just the mystical magic we used to point at. Now all that has to happen is we all do this together. If we can agree and act under this one idea, then we can evolve to a new level of humanity.
That’s the meaning of life… That’s what everyone has been trying to say this whole time… that one little stupid thing: love everyone. Now that we have that mystery cracked we can move on.
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