Yesterday was Independence Day. Upon reflection, I found myself wondering why we don’t celebrate Interdependence Day? The way I see it, we are all interdependent with each other, with all forms of life, with the planet itself. I wonder sometimes how this world might be if we honored our connection with all of life?

This morning I meditated on the strawberries I was eating for breakfast. I pictured the seeds being planted and nurtured by the grower, which is usually a whole group of people involved in planting, watering, weeding and harvesting. Many of these people come from other countries and endure hardships and low wages so we can eat strawberries. I am very grateful to them and I wish we treated them better. I reflected on nature itself–the sun, earth, water, and bees that grew the fruit. I thought about the folks who then crate and transport this delicious fruit to my grocery store. This led to thinking about all that goes into our transportation infrastructure and the vehicles and fuel it takes for this step. And then there is my local grocery store where people are currently facing personal risks as essential workers so I can buy the strawberries. I was filled with a feeling of gratitude and wonder as I considered all the life energies involved in the simple gift of strawberries on my breakfast table.

If you think about it, everything that sustains our life has a chain like this. We are not islands, independent unto ourselves. This point has become ever clearer to me since the pandemic began. We cannot lock ourselves in our homes and survive for long. Even our homes depend on a huge amount of infrastructure coming from multiple sources in order for us to survive: water, electricity, heat, sewer and trash services are all essential. How long can you stay at home before you have to go out and get supplies? Where do these supplies come from? All over the world.

Countries are also interdependent. We depend upon one another to share resources, to trade, to help each other and to protect the biosphere on which we all depend. The pandemic gives us an opportunity to learn from each other, to help one another, because it is happening to all of us.

Human life is fragile. It depends on a lot of scaffolding to hold it up. I am humbled by this realization. I cannot survive by myself. I am also heartened to think that we are all inter-connected and dependent upon one another and the entire natural world. All lives matter. We are part of something large and magnificent that holds us in its arms. By nature, we are social animals designed to live in groups and form bonds of love and caring. Unless something happens to damage it, our natural tendency is to reach out to one another with compassion if someone is hurting or in need. We have seen a lot of that in recent times, and well if I look back, in all times.

I have faith and hope in our love for each other, our love for nature and our beautiful planet. My hope is that love will melt the mirage of independence that keeps us isolated and we can celebrate our interdependence–the great dance of giving and receiving that is the truth of Life.