The world is divided

The world is divided into people who think they are right. ~Tara Brach

If I divide the world into those who are part of my group, however, I define the group and those who are not part of my group it becomes easier to malign those not part of my group. It is easy to make others out to be liars, bad people and evil. Having this view of others is easy because it requires no thought, to need to think for oneself and no need to grow and learn.

When I was young, we lived in a small farming community that did not welcome change or newcomers, after about five years I was almost accepted by the group and for a time, to gain acceptance I became suspicious of those not part of the group. I started to believe our image and that our (the group's) world outlook was the only one that was correct.

I soon outgrew that position as I read and learned more of the world, but when I look around, I see too many buying into the idea that their world view is the correct view. The quote emphasizes what could be at the root of many of the problems that range from the personal and professional to the political to horrific acts of violence and cruelty among peoples and nations.

As humans, we need to understand that “our truth” is not “The Truth”. My truth may be wrong or only partially true. I believe that it is important for us to help others understand "our truth". It is also more important that we hear other views and that we open to being influenced by them.

G. K. Chesterton said, “There's a lot of difference between listening and hearing.” In society today we need to hear more and remember that our truth begins with a lowercase “t”, not an Upper case “T”. and that difference is meaningful.