DISCONNECTION IS THE REAL VILLAIN!

Disconnection is the one word that can explain the fatal shootings of black and white people in Baton Rouge, Minnesota, and Dallas. While race is the factor that most of us will accept as the primary reason behind these tragedies, it is disconnection that lies at the core of these killings. The true smoking gun is in the “hands” of a force that is nurtured by the lack of meaningful connections to other souls. This energy has a stronghold in our culture and in our consciousness, and has conditioned us to discount the humanity in another human being.  Human beings are more likely to do heinous things to each other when they look into each other’s eyes and see something less than human.

Disconnection discriminates equally. It whispers its poisonous messages in the minds of its hosts, transmitting sinister reminders that “they”- blacks, gays, Muslims, Jews, Americans, women, transgendered, the poor, Asians, whites, etc. - are not like us; that “their” lives are not as important as ours; and that the society is threatened by “their” existence.

All is not lost, however, if we acknowledge and study the causes of disconnection and endorse the saving grace of connection! I’ve been fortunate in my life to witness the amazing power of different incidents that nurture connection, some of which compels me to ponder the existence of forces beyond mere coincidence.

I’ve watched the birth of a baby, whose father was black and mother was white, miraculously change family members whose hearts were hardened by racism, and whose minds were trained to be closed off to diversity.  In some cases, the change happened almost immediately; but sometimes the change occurred over a longer period of time, after family members spent years confronting old and outdated thought habits and contemplating the ridiculousness of rejecting their baby simply because her father’s skin color was brown. Regardless of the length of time, I was uplifted to see an innocent, powerless child, with the blood of both races running through her little veins, subdue generations of bigotry and intolerance in her immediate family, while creating a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these family members to broaden their horizons and make a meaningful connection with people of diverse backgrounds.

The process of disconnection, how one becomes separated from his individual humanity and from other human beings, is concurrently mysterious and obvious. I plan to share my unscientific insights about this process in my upcoming blogs. I hope to make the point that renewing the connection to our humanity and to each other is the most important goal of our modern times.

While we mourn the loss of lives in the tragedies that occurred in Baton Rouge, Minnesota, and Dallas, let’s share our stories about the triumph of connection!