There is a simple but profound Lakota prayer, "Mitakuye Oyasin".  It means "All My Relations".  To pray this prayer is to petition God on behalf of everyone and everything on Earth.  Mitakuye Oyasin honors the sacredness of each person's individual spiritual path, acknowledges the sacredness of all life (human, animal, plant, etc..) and creates an energy of awareness which strengthens not only the person who prays but the entire planet.  Soon after I first learned this prayer, I saw that it represented all that needed to be said.  It was a prayer of respect, honor and love for all of mankind, and for the Earth.  It was a prayer that said "I wish goodness and peace for all.  I would leave no one out.  I pray for all."  It was a prayer that crossed the barriers of religion and could be prayed by one of any faith.  It was a prayer that united, instead of dividing.  It was an amazing prayer!

    There has been a growing awareness, among those of every major faith, of the common elements within religions.  Over the next few years, we will see increasing overlaps of creed and ritual as people of every faith sense a need to embrace new ways of relating, outside the structure of their own faith--to embrace the "Godness" in others, regardless of the differences in dogma or religious law.  There will be less and less need to "convert" and more willingness to learn from one another.  A combining of traditions, and a reaching out beyond the boundaries of divided faith, will result in a focus on common truth, tolerance, acceptance, and "Oneness".

    I'm not sure how long I have known that we are all connected (and that what we do affects those around us as well as people we never meet) but I do recall, very vividly, the moment this awareness made it's way to my conscious mind in a clear statement of purpose.  I was watching a music video on MTV (God moves in mysterious ways . . .).  The scenes were accompanying a song titled "Everybody Hurts", by REM.  The camera moves slowly past rows and rows of cars, bumper to bumper, in Los Angeles rush-hour traffic.  We (the viewers) are shown the thoughts of the passengers in each car, by way of captioned statements on the screen.  It is painful to watch--not just because everyone seems lost in pain, struggle or hopelessness, but because they all seem alone and unaware of the people in other cars.  Then, a solitary man steps from his car, closes the door, and begins to walk away.  One by one, passenger after passenger follows suit until all the thousands of cars are left vacant.  A way of life is abandoned.  One by one, we are stepping on the path to a new reality.  Critical Mass has been reached.  The hundredth monkey has rinsed his food, and a new core knowledge of Oneness is being born.  Aho.  Mitakuye Oyasin.