It was about believing that we as humanity could do it, that we as a people and as a nation, could overcome the division, the differences and the us-and-them mentality that has a us on the brink of divide. And seeing tens of thousands of people cheering to the echo of those words, seeing people embrace strangers, seeing kids dancing on stage, and others walking around with love signs all invoked John Lennon’s dream of living as one, together.
Interestingly enough, that was the closer of the Michael Franti show I saw the other night at one of the most beautiful places on Earth, a place I like to call church – Red Rocks Amphitheater. And as I was standing there, arm and arm with some of my closest friends, I had this unshakable feeling that yes, as humanity we can do it. We can live in a world without school shootings, we can live in a world without environmental destruction, a world without war, and a world where traditional values can share space with gay marriage.
There is something oddly heroic and awe-inspiring watching Michael Franti who grew up against the odds to be amongst leaders of social justice and advocates for peace and one who has inspired millions of folks with who he is. The musical event was powerful to say the very least and more accurately, a religious experience for me. And the message was just as unequivocal as the message that Jesus delivered over 2000 years again, and the same that the Buddha delivered before him, and the same one that Zoroaster long before the both of them had spoken – it was a message of love.
It was a message of having faith and believing in love and its power to transform people and it something we all know and have experienced. It is was about directing our hearts towards its guiding light and placing ourselves upon its alter so that we may become disciples in its propagation around the globe. It was a message about reminding us what makes us human and asking us to become more of that and all of it was so beautiful.
Love doesn’t require us to believe in God or a God, love has a name we all recognize no matter the language we speak and it has a power we all have felt. Love inspires the best in all of us and it is something we all need and want in our lives, and love has undoubtable been the force that, historically, has been the foundation of incredible changes – think Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. most notably. And maybe even more abstractly, it is that force that is responsible for the formation of stars and the organization of the galaxies that has captivated our minds since the beginning.
But something went wrong in our thinking. We filter out the similarities and focus on our difference. We engage in unconstructive rhetoric which has brought this juggernaut of a country to a standstill more than once and has clogged our political system so as to ruin its effectiveness in producing any constructive and advancing policies.
You don’t have to buy into all the love stuff I was talking about earlier and certainly (I am assuming) some that read this will have a perspective that writes it off as being too ethereal. But it is an undeniable base for which the other qualities we need to cultivate can stem from, qualities such as respect, empathy, an ability for multilateral understanding, and tolerance. And moreover, it is something we can all relate too.
We know what love feels like, we know what respect feels like, and empathy and understanding. So, how does any of that translate into anything actionable anyways? What does it mean for the gun debate and school shootings, what does it mean for religious tolerance, gay marriage, immigration, climate change and war?
Well, all good questions with no clear answer and it is a cop-put on this whole discussion to avoid answering but there is something important to recognize which could lead us in a positive direction if we begin to embrace it and that is recognizing that first and foremost, at our most fundamental unit we are human above anything else. We want to live in peace and we want peace for our children, we want affordable health care, we want clean water and a healthy planet, and we don’t want people or governments to restrict our choices and freedoms especially when there are no inherent net negative impacts on society at large.
And in an effort to avoid rambling on any further about things that are axiomatic, I will just say that solving these major issues requires us to get uncomfortable with the people we disagree with in order to hash out any sort of cohesion with policy, and it is love for our families, love for our communities, for our country and our planet that will ultimately be the container that holds us together through disagreement.
It was that concert that reminded me of that quality in people’s capacity to come together because it was everywhere to be seen that night. It was a concert that brought the best out of people. It was the epitome of peace and the echo of a song that recognize that humanity, with all its problems, is still so beautiful. And it reminded me that what we have to believe in to solve our problems, really the only thing we have to believe in, is ourselves. And I believe in that with all my heart.
