We Is One

“Oneness is always growing in the world, boy.”

This quote is from the children’s book Pax by Sara Pennypacker. As I listened to it in my car, the sentiment hit me like a ton of books. To the extent that I am a spiritual person, oneness is it. Unity. God. I am the whole universe and it is me. And you, dear reader. We living things are not just all connected- we are the same being.

I love the suggestion, not only that we are all one, but that the idea is growing, gaining traction. What if so much of the turmoil in the world is due to people resisting our shared sense of oneness? Oneness is scary for all of us who are attached to our individuality, separateness, and selfish desires.

Let’s challenge ourselves. Can we simultaneously acknowledge unity and accept differences, especially those that cause inequality? Can we act responsibly to empower those with less power and privilege?

Challenge yourself to see you in your fellow beings, both human and nonhuman. To intentionally experience kinship with them. To act upon hopeful hints of connection, those delightful inklings of oneness.

If we accept the challenge, it’s not ‘we are one’. Are is plural, right? But we doesn’t have to be. In this simple decision about grammar and verb conjugation, we find God. We is one.

It’s growing in the world, girl!