“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.” – Abraham Lincoln.
A large circle gathered around the two young lads engaged in a serious stare-down and a war of words. Those hovering waited with great anticipation, some even encouraging them to come to blows.
Decades later, as I reflect on that playground confrontation, I am struck by the degree of encouragement—or apathy—toward the young fellows on the cusp of duking it out. No one tried to intervene or suggested working it out by other means.
I wonder—collectively and individually—whether we’ve been scripted to believe there must always be an enemy. What happens to a nation, a community, or a person’s soul when division is not only encouraged, but normalized?
Has individualism overcome our appreciation for community—for the common good? Have we lost the inherent truth that we are all connected?
On June 16, 1858, at the Illinois State Capitol, quoting in part from either Mark 3:25 or Matthew 12:25, Abraham Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure…”
Divisiveness only perpetuates the fuel of self-righteousness. This dynamic is built on an overvaluing of dominance. The inherent flaw is that those who ‘win’ are often misled into assuming that those who ‘lose’ will now unite with them. In reality, it only deepens the chasm between the parties.
Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” That is the truth: if we do not learn how to resolve our differences collectively and respectfully, we will all, in the end, suffer.
As Mother Teresa reminds us, “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”
+BP