REALITY OF ONENESS

excerpts from HUMANKIND IS ONE, AND IT'S TIME FOR US ALL TO EMBRACE THAT REALITY, by Jim Turpin, Jan. 25, 2003 in CitizensTimes

Some recent archaelogical findings are causing many scientists to change their minds about our ancestors.  It is increasingly clear that life had its beginnings in central Africa.  And, with the recent discoveries, there is strong evidence that advanced, curious, adventuresome hominids migrated north out of Africa along riverbanks, beaches and land corridors to populate what is now the Middle East and Eastern Europe.  And, growing out from there for thousands of year, their descendents populated the rest of the Earth.  (See National Geographic, August, 2002, "The First Pioneers.")

Add to that that geneticists have demonstrated recently that every human being - every one of us - carries a piece of a gene from the genetic material of a single African woman, given the designation "Eve".  We can conclude that our concepts of the human genealogy tree is forever altered, that we are much more closely related - interrelated - than we ever imagined....

I met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in April, 1965.  I spoke with him briefly after he made a brilliant speech in the dining room of the Raburn Senate Office Building in Washington, D. C.  He spoke eloquently of the destruction of body and soul of segregation, of the inherent danger of long-lasting scars from "separate but equal", of the yearning for the reality of unity and oneness.  I shared with him in that brief but very memorable exchange that my Montagnard friends and patients in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam knew of his work, were inspired by his leadership. They were attempting to practice his methods of nonviolence, despite the racial slurs and constant reminders of their inferiority by the Vietnamese.  He thanked me and said, "Young doctor, the world has grown too small for anything less than brotherhood."  I will never forget that.

But, now, something strange and frightening is happening.  Until the '50s and '60s we had legal segregation.  We were forced to practice segregated gatherings, schooling, eating places, amusements, and even worship.  We were allowed to fight and die together.  Now, those laws are mostly gone.  In their place, however, is a "voluntary segregation", with our own neighborhoods, our speciality restaurants (as delicious as they are), our own churches, organizations, clubs and societies.  We do not have to practice segregation any longer, but we do.

Something has to change, and soon.  The old conventional ways are just not working.  I am not sure what "thinking outside the box" really means, but if it includes considering some pretty radical ideas, it might be worth the effort.  One thing is certain, we MUST spend more time together - worshiping, playing, eating, visiting, forming friendships outside the crayon boundaries.  Humankind is one.  It is time to practice it.

Jim Turpin, M.D., M.P.H., is the founder of Project Concern, International, a worldwide medical relief organization.  He is the author of Vietname Doctor and A Faraway Country.  He lives with his wife, Wrenn, in Fairview (Asheville, NC).  They are co-founders of a Symphony on the Block.