We Really Are Family

The Most Dysfunctional Family of All

I have labeled myself a Globalist. I don’t even know if that’s a real thing, but I like what it entails. A Globalist is pretty self-explanatory in that it is one who celebrates, studies, and respects the diversity of life and physical properties of the earth. For without the earth, there is no life. There are an abundance of legends as to how life came to exist on earth and how and when humans appeared. The belief one holds as to the origin of life, however; either falls into the category of science or spirituality/religion….or if you’re like me, a little of both. My ignorance of the religious creation myths throughout the world limits me to speak only of Western religious myths. Western religions state that God/Allah created everything in a week. Man was created, then took a woman out of his ribs and they started making babies. As they were the only two people on earth, every offspring from ALL future generations MUST share the DNA of those first two people.

 Scientists present concrete proof that evolution occurred. I myself have participated in the Human Genome Project, which traced my ancestry over more than 150,000 years back to East Africa. The same is true of all who have participated. So, like religious beliefs, evolutionary science traces human life back to one source. In both cases, we all share DNA; we are all related. With all that being said, the bottom line is, regardless of which origin story you accept, the end result is the same…..we are all part of one family. 

My immediate family is weird. Dysfunctional. Challenging. Crazy! Seriously, I will throw down the “weird family” gauntlet and take on all challengers. There is deep and irreparable division between all possible combinations of siblings, parents, nieces, etc. Most of the vitriol stems from the fact that those who have held hate in their hearts for so long, refuse to communicate. The hate grows over time and spreads to those other family members who listen only to the opinion of the hater. Being armed with biased, and more often than not, false information, the hate among the followers grows and spreads, like cancer…it kills. If then, this takes place in one small family, what happens when it occurs to the entire human family? I think we’re seeing those results more clearly than ever.

We all started from the same place, wherever you believe that place to be, and migration got us to where we are now. Clans that stayed close to the equator have the darkest skin and those who travelled furthest from the equator have the lightest skin. All of the other shades depend on where the clan went and for how long. People who live in higher elevations, have a greater amount of hemoglobin in their blood; hemoglobin oxygenates the blood. At higher elevations there is less oxygen therefore more hemoglobin is needed to supply the human body. I can’t look at someone and determine her hemoglobin level. I can look at someone and determine her skin color. I can see what is on the outside but not what is happening inside. The only way to do that (aside from lab work) is to engage in conversation. In other words, rather than judge someone based on what I can see, I can try to understand someone based on what I learn from that person.

  I don’t like everyone and I can say with absolute certainty that an enormous number of people don’t like me. That’s ok. My reason for disliking a person is based on the actions of that person. Even more than that, perhaps. It may even be that person’s intentions. Sometimes we don’t ask “why” often enough. And we only need to ask “why” when that person is doing something that affects another. I don’t ask “why” when someone goes to a church that is not mine. Or when someone lives a heterosexual lifestyle. Or when someone speaks a different language, looks different than me, or learns differently. I do wonder “why” when someone is cruel, selfish, or hateful to another being; human or otherwise. 

You see, this globalist does in fact believe we are all related and when one suffers that means a family member is suffering. And the worst pain endured is that inflicted by another family member. We are all on this earth for a relatively short time and must learn to be at peace with our global neighbors. The idea of an all loving planet is a naïve fantasy. I know I don’t like everyone, but I also don’t hate anyone. Like my immediate siblings, however; I can love someone I don’t like. I can bask in the diversity of this wonderful planet while at the same time practice introspection to determine how I can improve myself and subsequently the fortunes of my brothers and sisters of the world. Peace.