We All Bleed Red

“If civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human relationships—

the ability of all peoples, of all kinds, to live together, in the same world at peace.”— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Racism. Misogyny. Xenophobia. Homophobia. Transphobia. Ageism. Ableism. Religious intolerance. The list of our prejudices - and the things we fear - seems almost endless.

How can we hope to live together in the United States - or anywhere in the world - if we cannot first accept one another's humanity?

So much in life depends on circumstances beyond our control. Where we are born. The family we enter. The opportunities we are given or denied. Despite our ideals, very few people begin life on equal footing.

Religion, too, shapes much of the conflict and division we see around us. Yet where we happen to be born often determines the faith we practice or whether we practice one at all. Had many of us been born thousands of miles away, we might hold entirely different beliefs while feeling just as certain that they were true.

To put it all in perspective, we live on a small planet orbiting an ordinary star within one of an estimated two trillion galaxies. We are unimaginably small in the vastness of the universe, yet we continue to hate one another because of skin color, nationality, politics, identity, or the God we worship.

I still struggle to understand it.

And I am not exempt. I have biases too. We all do.

Human beings are capable of extraordinary kindness and unimaginable cruelty. History makes that painfully clear, and today's headlines remind us that little has changed.

I also understand that being human is difficult. We carry burdens that no one else can fully see - financial worries, illness, grief, loneliness, fear, disappointment, and uncertainty. Those struggles often make it easier to judge than to understand.

Yet beneath all the differences, disagreements, and competing claims that one nation, ideology, or religion is superior to another, most of us are searching for the same things: peace, health, safety, purpose, and the hope that the people we love will be okay.

We are far more alike than we often admit.

We laugh.

We cry.

We worry.

We love.

We grieve.

And when life wounds us, regardless of who we are or where we come from...

we all bleed red.

Perhaps the first step toward healing our divisions is remembering our common humanity before our differences!