The Spiritual Challenge of Interconnectedness

Co-presenters Kate Hand & Tovis Page.
“This we know. All things are connected like the blood that unites one family.” – Chief Seattle, 1854
“Interconnectedness” has become an easy catch-word these days, especially for Unitarian Universalists, who claim respect for the interdependent web as one of our core principles. But do we really know all things are connected, in a way that makes a difference?
Or is an understanding of our interdependence something that must be deliberately cultivated over time, with practice and dedication, like any other great spiritual pursuit? How can we dive into our connectedness so we feel it in our hearts, know it in our bones, and manifest it in the world? Join us this morning for an exploration of that which connects us all.
Both Kate and Tovis are both members of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Redwood City. Kate is also one of the founding members of the Bay Area’s newest UU Fellowship, Live Oak UU Fellowship in Alameda. In Redwood City, Tovis serves on the Interfaith and Denominational Affairs committees. She has a PhD in Religious Studies which she diligently applies as a full-time parent of two active boys. For the past several years, she has been discerning a call to spiritual service and is thrilled to be starting her journey toward UU ordination in the Fall.
Please Call Me by My True Names
by Thich Nhat Hanh
Do not say that I’ll depart tomorrow—
even today I am still arriving.
Look deeply: every second I am arriving
to be a bud on a Spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.
I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
to fear and to hope,
the rhythm of my heart is the birth and death
of all that are alive.
I am the mayfly metamorphosing
on the surface of the river,
and I am the bird which, when Spring comes,
arrives in time to eat the mayfly.
I am the frog swimming happily
in the clear water of a pond,
and I am the grass-snake
that silently feeds itself on the frog.
I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks.
And I am the arms merchant,
selling deadly weapons to Uganda.
I am the twelve-year-old girl,
refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean
after being raped by a sea pirate.
And I am the pirate,
my heart not yet capable
of seeing and loving.
I am a member of the politburo,
with plenty of power in my hands.
And I am the man who has to pay his
“debt of blood” to my people
dying slowly in a forced labor camp.
My joy is like Spring, so warm
it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth.
My pain is like a river of tears,
so vast it fills the four oceans.
Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and laughter at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.
Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up
and so the door of my heart can be left open,
the door of compassion.