‘Everything is Everything’ is the title of a Donny Hathaway song.   I would like to quote the lyrics but there aren’t any.  He repeats the same phrase twenty times, and that’s it.  I would also like to say I love Donny’s music, but I don’t.  Too smooth, too milquetoast for my taste. 

 

But if you’ve ever had any form of mystical experience, and millions of us have, you come away knowing that everything is – indeed – everything.  We are interconnected and, whether we like it or not, we are our brother’s keeper.  We are here to support each other and, if necessary, to make sacrifices for each other.  No if, ands, or buts.  Just get on with it!

 

Easier said, than done, right?  Because, let’s face it, many people are awful, and finding common ground with some of them is impossible.  I mean, you’re never getting to first base with a Putin or a Pol Pot, are you?  But, hey, you can work on your immediate circle.  Begin with your mother-in-law; the woman who’s given you the cat-shit-in-the-corner look for 30 years.  Or how about the kid from the next cul-de-sac?  ‘Seth and I are having lunch on Thursday.’  That would go down well with your own kid, whom Seth bullied relentlessly all through school.

 

So where do you start?  I’ve spent the last 40 years trying to model two of my college professors: kind, caring and unfailingly patient.  But I have to tell you it’s been a bit of a write-off.  I find many people truly exasperating and, despite my best efforts, I’m still pretty messed-up myself.  When I die there’ll be no falling on my knees, rejoicing.  The first thing on my agenda will be, ‘Who killed Kennedy?’  The second will be giving God a hard time about my hair!  And then will come the questions, the whys and the WTF’s, some of which I plan to raise on this blog.