We Are The World
“There comes a time when we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And it’s time to lend a hand to life…….”
Michael Jackson
Most mornings I greet the day with what some might call prayer. I don’t think of it quite in the same way. I think of it as saying hello to all my relatives, remembering that I am not alone on this earth walk and asking for assistance in learning how to be a good human being. I try to acknowledge all my teachers, human and non-human. Many a river, prairie, forest, lake, have taught me, as well as deer, seagull, fox, and weasel. I am a slow learner. Some days I get closer than others, to being a good student. As I enter this day, I am hoping this will be one of those days.
A few minutes into the day the phone rings. I glanced down at the caller ID. I reluctantly answered the phone. I was not sure I could hold the space for what I knew was coming, a litany of the world’s woes. There would be political and social commentary that would be infused with an intellectual elitism that would deem other schools of thought or cosmologies as misguided and inferior. There would be accusations and vilification of “others.” I Internally vowed to hold my tongue and judgements lightly and to listen with love. I picked up the phone. It was a twenty plus minute phone call, and initially I fought to stay present for what felt like an assaultive bombardment with words hurled into the phone line. The description of showing up “loaded for bear” came to mind. I allowed myself to enter a trauma informed WE space. A space that requires hearing beyond the words to the frustration, anger, fear, and hurt that my fellow human being was experiencing. As we move towards ” …. a world that works for 100 percent of humanity and all life on earth”, it will require listening beyond the words.
The words that were swirling around in my head during that phone call were words like presence, deep listening, holding space for “We.” What do I mean by holding space for We? I mean that place within me that remembers that no matter what, we are in this together and we best figure out how to live together, as Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) said.
That is what brought me to WE the World. How do we get to the place where we have a collective understanding of our interdependence and act in alignment with that understanding? How can we elevate the shift to a WE consciousness that would have us care for each other and all life on earth? WE the World says we need a major public awareness-raising and mobilization of programs that benefit from what some people call “conscious” or “sacred” activism.
WE, The World promotes making a shift from “I” to “WE”. WE, the World unites and amplifies the efforts of people, organizations and global movements working for the common good. WE, the World does that by, what founder Rick Ulfik refers to as, “The three I’s that make up the WE. Inspire. Inform. Involve.”
In the English language, ME turned upside down is WE. It is time to turn things upside down. A We society abandons the thought “them” because it is only us. In many of the Indigenous languages it is simply said, We, the human beings.
“There comes a time when we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And it’s time to lend a hand to life…….”
I answer the call. I hold the space. I take another step on the journey of a learning to be a human being. Whether that means Inspiring, Informing, or Involving others in shifting to a WE relational world view, we each have a role to play. So, sing the song and join the movement.
