The Human Cohesion Project — 8 May 2020
#TheHumanCohesionProject
Shabbat Shalom! As I listen to my favourite version of Shalom Aleichem (Idan Yaniv!) playing on a loop in the background, my thoughts go to Father Abraham. Rather, they go to the collective memory we hold of him, all our subjective versions, that spun off a tizzy of transgenerational trauma that we and our planet have been reeling with for millennia.
In his personal quest to understand the idea of God, Abraham/Ibrahim is often spoken of as a hernif — as someone who knows the oneness that God represents. And yet, in his aftermath followed interpretations of his subjective experience of life, creating various Abrahmic faiths. If there is one lesson for us as humanity in this process, it is this: it is paramount that each individual is allowed a personal experience of God, for it is indeed a subjective journey — each of our starting points are different. When we try to prototype one individual’s experience and attempt to replicate it for the masses without regard to their personal narrative, there is no spaciousness for exploration. Institutionalising religion is inherently a violent process, for it does not account for a personal, direct connection with the oneness that connects us all.
What might heal our collective trauma is perhaps a sense of community, that holds each individual spaciously as we engage with our connectedness in a manner and pace that works for us.
- How did you connect with oneness today?
Ramadan Kareem. May life gift you with spaciousness, and a longing for oneness to fill it with.
#RukminiIyer #Ramadan #peacebuilding
