A poem from Steve Taylor‘s regular newsletter that I particularly liked.

I don’t sense that you’re different from me
even if you believe you are.

I don’t believe that babies are born with distinctions,
belonging to a religion or nation.

I don’t believe that human beings die with distinctions,
belonging to different sections of a cemetery.

I don’t feel that I have my ‘people’ and you have yours,
and that the lives of our peoples have a different value.

I acknowledge your need to define yourself.
I understand your need for belonging
but you can’t separate yourself from me
without making yourself feel more alone.
You can’t withhold your empathy from me
without hurting yourself inside.

Your thoughts may convince you of distinctions
but they can’t change you underneath
where there is no solidity or boundary
and our beings infuse each other, and everyone else’s too.

I accept allegiance only to the human race.
I recognise only our common core
the essence beneath identity
the deep shared space where we are one.

I had the please of meeting Steve at the Manchester Schumacher Lectures in the early 2000’s and attended one of his seminars. A great seeker!