We live in a society that is going up in flames because we think the individual alone is real.

We live in a society that is going up in flames because we have a tendency to think the individual alone is real. Even religious and political and ethnic groups view themselves as individual entities that are separate from - and better than - other religious, political or ethnic groups, rather than serving as puzzle pieces that fit together to make a larger Whole. Whatever happened to our experience of something much more vast and spacious that ties all individuals and groups together into a larger Reality?  

Even God is viewed in our culture as simply one more individual - the "highest" individual, perhaps, but an individual nevertheless - rather than as the Ground of Being which underlies and supports all things.  This individualistic kind of god then exists simply for the salvation of the individual, and for the preservation of one's own particular group. 

It is no wonder, then, that there is currently a popular movement rampant in our society which mistrusts a government - imperfect though it is - that would foster the welfare of everyone.  Or an international body - like the United Nations - that would seek the greater good of the planet. When enlightened people speak of fostering the health and well-being of the entire Earth or of the international community, some among us claim that this is actually a misguided case of "worshipping the creation rather than the Creator."  However, they have no qualms, it would seem, about treating the individual self - and the individual God - as the most fundamental of realities, thereby effectively worshipping the creaturely concept of individuality. As theologian Paul Tillich so often said, whatever you view as the ultimate reality is your "God," whether that be the individual or the Greater Whole. 

Individuals are important, of course, but only as the unique means through which the Greater Whole - God, Mother Earth, the Web of Life, the Universe - comes to know and appreciate Himself, Herself and Itself within each creature.  Until we once again begin to view ourselves as part of a larger Whole that permeates and connects us all, our society will continue to give birth to a culture of violence and estrangement.

Photo: The tail end of the Fern Lake Fire, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; December 14, 2012