Choir Notes

No Man Is an Island
From Music and the Spoken Word
Delivered by: Lloyd D. Newell . Program 4140

Each of us has our own talents, our own abilities, and our own challenges. Sometimes it's tempting to want to trade places with others, but it's probably not wise. One family tries to remember this simple truth with a wall hanging, cross-stitched with a piece of Grandma's wisdom: If all of our problems were hung on a line, you'd take yours and I'd take mine.

Sorting out problems, however, is not quite as simple as sorting laundry. If our problems really were hung on a line, we might be surprised how similar they are. The truth is, we're more alike than we are different. We all worry about our families and finances; we're concerned about our health and well-being. Regardless of our differences, we all want to love and be loved.

So rather than wishing we were in our neighbors' shores, maybe we should look for opportunities to walk alongside them. Along the way, we might offer to carry some of our neighbor's burdens. They may even want to do the same for us. We all have so much we can share with each other. We have a commonality, a camaraderie that comes of our shared humanity. Each one of us is connected to others; we depend on each other; we need each other.

Paraphrasing the great poet John Donne, the lyrics of a popular song put it this way:

No man is an island;
No man stands alone.
Each man's joy is joy to me;
Each man's grief is my own.

We need one another,
So I will defend
Each man as my brother,
Each man as my friend. 1

If we can see one another as fellow travelers, we may be more inclined to look for ways to share each other's burdens. We'll see each other through the lens of equality and compassion, and this will open our hearts to the the rich diversity of life.

1 Joan Whitney and Alex Kramer, "No Man Is an Island."