PEBBLE
Unity cannot exist when exclusion is allowed to occur. What brings us together cannot exist in the same time and place as what keeps us apart.
–Richard Wagamese, shared by Kelsey in Fond du Lac, WI
BOULDER
What seam runs between you and me? Sooner or later we all end up acting as if a seam separates friend and foe. When we get too used to this, we believe that this seam really exists. Poor and rich, important and unimportant—none of that exists. It’s only glitter on the waves.
–Kodo Sawaki Roshi, shared by Pete in Colorado via Tricycle Magazine
PONDER
In a world as big and diverse as ours is, there will always be divisions and conflict. Always. Add in the corruptive nature of power and greed, and they can descend into extreme inequality and/or escalate into war. I think one of the defining challenges of the complicated times we’re in is to figure out how to sidestep the extreme polarization that currently permeates our society. So many aspects of our culture encourage the “us vs. them” dynamic, and outrage has become a national pastime.
I don’t think it’s possible or necessary to eliminate all conflict and disagreement, as these are inevitable (and useful) parts of the human experience since they ultimately help us grow! But without some level of harmony, there are fewer and fewer paths available to help us find our way to solutions for our most pressing concerns.
I think there is some hope hidden right here in the ripply goodness that we’ve been exchanging for the past two decades. Every Monday morning since the early days of 1999, a bunch of curious folks from various walks of life have been converging around these quick splashes of inspiration. Ever so gradually we’ve grown from a few dozen to tens of thousands.
We’ve worked hard to keep Ripples brief, and it’s always been my intention that we focus more on our commonalities and tread carefully around the “hot topics.” I’ve stumbled a few times in this area, and lost a few frustrated Ripplers along the way. Overall, though, I’m proud that we’ve figured out how to stick together while we keep learning and growing.
To reflect and encourage this focus, a few days ago we tweaked the name and description of our official gathering spot on Facebook which will now be known as The Ripples Convergence. Here’s the description:
Welcome to The Ripples Convergence! We are a collection of kind souls who come together around our mission of Unleashing Ripples of Compassion + Kindness (UROCK). We vary by political affiliation and religious practices, as well as by who we love, where we come from, what we look like, and how we move through the world. Many of our members care passionately about political and social causes, and our values don’t align on some issues. Still, we gather in peace by gracefully avoiding topics that can divide us. Our purpose here is to reflect, refuel, and refocus on our common humanity: peace, love, and ripples.
Thanks for any actions you can take in 2023 to build bridges, deepen connections, and help us converge around ☮️,, and ♒️.
Peace,
Paul
P.S. Oh, we also tweaked our Daily Splash page, so you can now visit the Daily Splash archives going back all the way to January 1, 2014!
