My sense of self and my very presence have been enlarged. More so, he offers words that enlarge my sense of self by adding the universe: “… we are not only living in the universe, but the universe is living in us.” Thurman connects me not only to the earth but to the entire universe. This sense of community and oneness with all that is and was and will be is remarkable as Thurman extends his hands to receive all species from every kingdom. His body will not behave as a guard that prevents persons from entering into their authentic self. So committed to community and by this, Thurman means wholeness, that he ensures that his body is not identified as a barrier. It will not get in the way of her and his becoming their true self though this is the American way. The desire for community is a return to the original setting of belonging and all- togetherness with all of creation: “Deep within himself he knows that if he settles for anything less than this, he denies the profound intent of his own spirit, which is one with the intent of the Creator.”įor me, what is most striking is his entry point: “I have always wanted to be me without making it difficult for you to be you.” He will not come into being at the expense of assassinating or alienating the personhood of another human being. This stride toward unity, wholeness, common ground is movement toward the original setting in paradise. Thus, man would never accept the absence of community as his destiny,” Thurman writes. “This was given by the Creator as the already actualized potential, as if the Creator wanted man to know what his true intent was in bring life into being, and this experience of true intent was to serve as a constant tutor, reminding man in the midst of all of his divisions, chaos, disorder, and broken harmony that he was made in and for harmony. There is no dualism.Įven if the stuff of myth or only a utopian ideal, the craving, a “built- in urge” for community is real, natural, innate and evidence of a beginning before our beginning.
Without a hierarchy, the playing field is level.įor Thurman, even chaos and order go hand in hand. Without a “king of the hill,” nothing and no one is to be dominated. The relation between a rock, a tree and a man, is also an expression of order.” Our kinship is a part of the natural order: “Any part of nature-say, a rock, a tree or a man-is an expression of order. He asserts that there is a place where we all belong, where every living thing, animal, human being, and plant, is connected and thereby related. When the world is shaking and you fear you might lose your grip, grab a hold of this book. Howard Thurman’s The Search for Common Ground probes the beginning of the never- ending, that is the ground of our communal being.
0 kommentar(er)
