recognize greater societal opportuni-
ties. Mastering empathy could prove
to be vital to the quality of our collec-
tive lives, may impact how humane
our institutions become, and perhaps
may be the catalyst to prod our re-
spective governments into refocusing
on a more conscientious approach to
human rights. Empathetic behavior
on a global scale may well be the criti-
cal skill set necessary to ensure the
noble evolution of the human race
and genuine caring for our planet.
When we focus on ourselves,
our world contracts as our
problems and preoccupations
loom large. But when we focus
on others, our world expands.
Our own problems drift to the
periphery of the mind and so
seem smaller, and we increase
our capacity for connection—
or compassionate action.
- Daniel Goleman
This world cannot become a
more peaceful and caring place with-
out more people around the globe
embracing these ideals. By giving
voice to the oppressed and under-
privileged we may also be securing
our own continuing freedoms and
privileges. In the apropos words of the
great Nelson Mandela, “Our human
compassion binds us one to the other,
not in pity or patronizingly, but as hu-
man beings who have learnt how to
turn our common suffering into hope
for the future.”
If we choose what is next collec-
tively, meaning that if enough people
turn towards each other envisioning
6 IMAGINE l SPRING 2016
a more conscious future together, we
will have the power to create a more
peaceful world. Social activist Mar-
garet Wheatly offers this advice: “We
must develop the will to act. We can’t
keep rejecting solutions because they
require us to change… or give privi-
lege to others! We can either turn
away or turn toward” each other.
Getting to a Greater Peace
Developing a culture of peace
truly begins with each of us. It starts
by choosing to welcome a mindset
based on empathy, a reality that ac-
tively seeks to undo hardships for the
many based on privilege for the few.
We must utilize privilege positively to
fulfill the basic human rights of jus-
tice and peace for all people. Author
Doug Noll, a full-time peacemaker
and mediator contends, “Peacemaking
by definition seeks to disenfranchise
those who seek unfair advantage,
who prefer to maintain disparities
that favor themselves.”
Why does this concept of a more
just world, a more peaceful existence
for all, sound so farfetched when in
the past century alone in the United
States we have passed a Civil Rights
Act, enacted the right to vote for
blacks and women, eradicated several
terrible diseases, witnessed the fall
of the Berlin Wall, and now have
technology to keep us connected with
each other around the globe in an in-
stant? We absolutely have the ability
to make very significant changes in
our world if we recognize and focus
on our vast similarities instead of our
differences.
Imagine a world where people
accept the premise that, firstly, each
of us is a loving spirit above all else;
secondly, a being of this planet; and
then, only if necessary, identification
by race, gender, country of origin,
religious preference, sexual orienta-
tion, political persuasion, and all other
personal ideations.
“We must awaken to the best in
us,” writes author Guy Finley. “The
best in us is that yet to be awakened
aspect of ourselves: our higher con-
sciousness. Regardless of our respec-
tive circumstances, we begin by
realizing our personal lives and our
world both hold infinite possibilities.”
Striving for peace and a sustainable
world through ethical globalization
should be the center of our universal
focus, and, at its core, development of
trust and harmony through compas-
sionate behaviors.
Randi Weingarten, labor leader
and educator, entreats us to develop
the empathetic heart: ”Those of
us who aren’t regularly subject to
outright prejudice have a moral
obligation to do the hard and perhaps
uncomfortable work of digging into
unconscious and semiconscious be-
haviors and attitudes…. That includes
taking a look at our own privilege.
Human rights should be availed to all.
How can we move forward if those
of us who have enjoyed privilege our
whole lives don’t at least try to under-
stand the reality of those who have
not, and try to address it. We must re-
claim the promise of a better America
for all.” Only then will there be peace
in America and the collective will to
open our hearts globally to others.
And in the resounding words of
Nelson Mandela, “It is in your hands
to create a better world for all who
live in it.”