Bird Droppings September 17, 2023
It takes more than one strand to make a rope, in life and education.

“You cannot contribute anything to the ideal condition of mind and heart known as Brotherhood, however much you preach, posture, or agree unless you live it.” Faith Baldwin

Every day, as I talk to teachers, parents, and/or students, I try to set an example, and not every day am I successful. But as I think about this beautiful, almost fall morning, getting up slower today than usual and relaxing perhaps too much, I am finally getting into a rhythm. So, I am sitting here trying to decide if I should work on writing, go through students’ papers, or be lazy. I thought I would take a few moments to write. About four years ago, I was FaceTiming my granddaughter, who invited me to the Sunflower Festival. Since I have been lazy about writing for a few days today, I am setting a goal of finishing at least three chapters by Friday. Many people I talk to daily stand-alone, often due to their choice, which our instant world has helped create. That is food for another day.

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent.” John Donne

It has been several years since I experimented with a group of young people using sewing thread. I had a thread for each person, and then I asked them to break it, which was simple and easily done.

“The moment we break faith with one another, the sea engulfs us, and the light goes out.” James Baldwin

After breaking the threads, I gave each of them another piece of thread, and we joined the threads together. In the end, we had a thirty-strand or piece of string/rope and twisted it slightly to keep threads together.

“In union, there is strength.” Aesop

“Remember upon the conduct of each depends on the fate of all.” Alexander the Great

Amazingly, no one could break the new combined rope; even when several folks pulled on each end, it would not break.

“So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.” Bahá’u’lláh

I still carry that piece of string/rope in my wallet. It surely does make a great example when talking to students almost anyone.

“I look to a time when brotherhood needs no publicity, to a time when a brotherhood award would be as ridiculous as an award for getting up each morning.” Daniel D. Michiel

I attended a demonstration in Mountain City, Georgia, a few years back. The lecturer at the Foxfire Museum was using a couple of folks in the group and had them twisting and turning six strands of twine into a rope.

“Unity to be real must stand the severest strain without breaking.” Mahatma Gandhi

Fundamental unity is the question, and in today’s politically charged atmosphere, unity is not to be found. I had shown my students so many years ago that even though having multiple strands of thread together in a bundle was significantly more substantial, each time you cut a piece, it weakened Exponentially.

“In all things that are purely social, we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress.” Booker T. Washington

“We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers.” Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love, 1963

Each day, as I sit outside in my garden and backyard, I ponder what I have witnessed, the differences in attitude and brotherhood in the world. Many are similar, and in a high school, that old cliché of school spirit is generally a good indicator of a semblance of brotherhood, a joining force in a body of humanity. But still, there are strands of thread dangling outside, weakening the whole.

“Cooperation is the thorough conviction that nobody can get there unless everybody gets there.” Virginia Burden, The Process of Intuition

I will never say everyone has to be identical. I like Booker T. Washington’s statement of each being a finger yet still being able to be a hand. I used to think it was cool when I saw a six-fingered person, and in my old stomping grounds of Lancaster and Chester counties, you would often see an Amish fellow with an extra finger. There was a recent ad where everyone was upset with Joe, who had extra fingers because he could type much faster and do much more; the ad showed him typing away and multi-tasking with his extra fingers. But the ad was about change, and new equipment equalized the office space. So often, we cannot accept the differences.

“I have often noticed that when chickens quit quarreling over their food, they often find that there is enough for all of them. I wonder if it might not be the same with the human race.” Don Marquis

In life, we far too often spend our time fretting over differences and not looking for similarities. How can we work as a group or as a team? I watched college football for a few minutes last Saturday, along with a jubilant football crowd at the game. Ultimately, teamwork makes all the difference in a win or loss; the winner is not always the better team. Better teamwork will win, which can be only a minute difference; a single strand could change a game or life.

“Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable.” Kenyan Proverb

Interestingly, while writing about unity and still believing in individuality, I am very monastic, and it is a difficult task. I return to Booker T. Washington’s quote: I can be a thumb and still work as a hand when needed. In believing and trusting, we gain that unity and that brotherhood. Watching the schools working on homecoming and various rallies, one thing keeps coming up: why all the negative? Why not work together? The problems are here, and solutions can be had if there is teamwork. Please keep all in harm’s way on your mind and hearts and always give thanks namaste.

My family and friends, I do not say this lightly,

Mitakuye Oyasin

(We are all related)

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