Today, I'm going to explore a topic I've been thinking about. It may be something you have on your mind as well. The topic is the human divisiveness that seems to be taking place in America, and in some cases, around the world. For this dispatch, I'll focus on the United States. So here it goes.
America, on the surface, is experiencing a lot of division these days. Or, as the Star Wars character Obi-Wan Kenobi says, there is a "disturbance in the Force." I don’t know if the strife and divisions are more than average. Perhaps today's instantaneous communication and the power of social media heightens and amplifies everything, but I sense something is happening that is unprecedented.
A disinterested observer from a nearby galaxy would likely see most of America’s inhabitants carrying out their daily routines. However, those aliens would also see separation. They would see a lot of uncivil discourse and even physical clashes over its politics, or feuds at local school board meetings over what is appropriate history to teach or books to read in classrooms. There are clashes over the legitimacy of the findings of peer-reviewed science, disputes over cancel culture, controversies over the wealth gap if it is moral for there to be multi-billionaires, and if climate change is a real thing or not.
If you take in a bit too much of all this stuff mentally, it can feel like a line from the song by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five - "It's a jungle sometimes. It makes me wonder how I keep from going under." It’s all human drama. Yet spiritually, what do we make of all of this? People have asked, "What is the spiritual significance of some of the disunity around the issues of our day? And why does there seem to be so much division around the globe and particularly in the United States?” Historically, the United States has been viewed as a model for others to follow. For many, it is "The City on a Hill" and thus a beacon of hope for the world. However, that hope for some is turning into discouragement.
There is enough material to write several books on these topics (I intend to write one myself). One shorthand answer is that we are going through spiritual chemicalization in which there is a clash between the old way of being and the new idea or paradigm is emerging. While chemicalization may help explain the phase of a growth process we are in, it doesn't necessarily help determine the solution. There is likely no single explanation for the divisive phenomena taking place in this country. If we understand how we got to this place, we still are left with the question, "What's the solution to the disturbance in 'The Force'?" Perhaps a better question is, "If we accept the premise that every experience is here to help us evolve, then what will help us achieve that evolution?”
I believe Evolutionary Biology can help us answer that question. The basic idea of evolution as presented by Charles Darwin is based on "survival of the fittest." His theory essentially says that organisms, including human beings, have to inherently struggle against one another, compete, and go through an "us vs. them" mentality to exist and thrive in this world. Consequently, only the most vigorous, most robust, and the loudest survive and evolve. However, survival of the fittest is only the first stage of evolution, and humanity is an unfinished species. We as humans have additional chapters to write for our story of development. The subsequent growth phase goes beyond the competitive, divisiveness, and "us vs. them" consciousness. It will be based on cooperation in which we move from a "me" to a "we" mentality.
Harmony is the way of the Universe, and for humanity to evolve, we must live in tune with its rhythm. The glue that keeps harmony together is Love, and Love is what binds everything together. When humanity makes Love the foundation of its awareness, it will move from division to cooperation, so that everyone can co-evolve with the world in which we live.
Loving cooperation then is the solution to the human divisiveness problem in America and in our world. Every answer to every question seems to always come back to this one Truth.
Peace and Blessings,
James