In a real sense all life is inter-related. All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be...This is the inter-related structure of reality.
~Martin Luther King

Poem: Let This Darkness Be A Bell Tower
by Rainer Maria Rilke

Quiet friend who has come so far,

feel how your breathing makes more space around you.
Let this darkness be a bell tower
and you the bell. As you ring,

what batters you becomes your strength.
Move back and forth into the change.
What is it like, such intensity of pain?
If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine.

In this uncontainable night,
be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses,
the meaning discovered there.

And if the world has ceased to hear you,
say to the silent earth: I flow.
To the rushing water, speak: I am.

(From Sonnets to Orpheus II, Translation by Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows)
Follow this link to hear Joanna Macy read this poem at OnBeing.

Resource: White Privilege- Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh

Self-Reflection: Unpacking Your Invisible Knapsack

The message below from a friend of my eldest son is asking some very poignant questions about recognizing white privilege. I invite you to use these questions as a self-reflection.