Shift your perspective with "Heathens"

My faith in humanity has been tested this past year. From stories in the media and on the news, to my own personal experience. Yet tonight I'm sitting in front of a blinking cursor... and I can still write that I believe humanity is inherently good. 

I do not mean to trivialize or in any way discount your pain, loss, injustice or suffering. What I do mean is to embrace the fact that we all need to look harder for the hidden GOOD... that we need to see deeply within each other and ourselves to discover the truth that we all are mysteriously marked by the Divine. 

Even though we possess the ability to choose between actions that build up or tear down, words that inspire or belittle... even though we can quite literally create life or death through our stories, underneath our exteriors is the common denominator of GOODness... it's there. 

I think it's easy, too easy, to lose sight of that truth. All the stuff of life can persuade and convince us otherwise. So I just wanted to take a moment to say it out loud... for you AND me... to remind all of us that we are connected and the common thread is something GOOD. 

I understand that we can see many other things about one another... that we can be pretty reluctant with our love and grace... and that can even be true of how we treat ourselves... everyone is probably a heathen in their own judgmental eyes.

The song on the MTL Live Free Summer playlist that I want you to give a listen to is "Heathens" by twenty one pilots. In it, I hear a warning against placing judgement because we all have pain and struggles that we are hiding in one way or another. I've often heard the most comforting words in the world are, "Me too." When we discover that our story is also the story of others, we feel a deep bonding sense of solidarity.

The song "Heathens" has a different angle on finding a universal commonality, and I appreciate the unity it offers us. The lyrics tell us not "make sudden moves... that we don't know the half of the abuse." We must be gentle with one another not knowing people's stories or even how their day went. We must approach one another slowly and carefully to not further inflict damage but instead continually give grace.  

Which brings me back to what we see and how we see each other... because I don't see heathens... I see potential and promise and MORE. When I say, "Me too," I'm grabbing ahold of the truth that I am MORE and can live a better story... how I can live from a center in myself that is GOOD; and I am grabbing ahold of that truth for you too.

It's not about me or you, it's about US... not just some of us... ALL of US... together.  
It's our DNA. It's who we are. Now live : )