Interconnected and Interdependent

Every individual matters, nonhuman as well as human. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference. We cannot live through a single day without making an impact on the world around us. And we all have free choice—what sort of difference do we want to make? Do we want to make the world around us a better place? Or not?
—Jane Goodall, in Lorne Adrian, The Most Important Thing I Know, 83

Not only are we interconnected, we’re interdependent. Interconnected things are part of a structure, organized, attached, perhaps even orderly. Certainly the church is an interconnected web, where one person’s joy or grief is felt by all the others. Pull one string of the web and the vibrations are felt throughout.

But we’re also interdependent. Interdependence rises a level above just being connected. Interdependence means that not only do we sense each other’s existence, but we also need one another. We each matter not just because we’re attached, and for one of us to go missing is like the unraveling of a fishing net, but because we make a difference in each other’s lives. My joy is impossible without yours to feed it; my sorrow is unbearable without you to share it.

Paul said the same thing organically when he spoke of the body needing hands, eyes, ears, and feet. Imagine a body where the hands are connected but they don’t ever wipe the tears out of the eyes. Imagine a body where the ears are connected, but they don’t share with the feet a cry they hear for help. Interconnected is not enough. We’re interdependent. We each have a role to play in one another’s lives.

And it/s not just other people with whom we’re interdependent—our ecosystem depends on us and we on it. Our society depends on us and we on it. Even God is part of this interdependent dance, as we depend on God and—here’s the radical part—God depends on us. From the office to the home to the whole of creation, we can choose each day to make things better. Or not.

How will you make a difference today, to your friends, your coworkers, your community, your world, and to God?

Along the Way, I wish you God’s peace on today’s stage of your Lenten spiritual journey. May Christ’s companionship bless you with confidence for the day, comfort you in trouble, and put a spring of joy in your step.