I watched Ode to Joy flash mob video as part of a class lead by Martha Beck. It was an exercise guiding us to practice oneness. Initially, repeated the mantra we are one, we are one, we are one until I became so swept away that the mantra faded into something else. The song’s familiarity immediately made me feel comfortable like I was being hugged by all that is. (The sound of the cello has always been a go-to mind clearer, noise quieter, and breath calmer for me.) Joy is a subversive act. There was something beautifully subversive about that moment. When the musicians came together, one by one, and people stopped and listened, one by one, children climbed trees, one by one, and the chorus filled the space with beautiful harmony, one by one, and the conductor choreographed the moment in perfect symmetry, one by one, reality was something else. Reality was connection, not isolation and division. Reality was the in and of and the not yet and the as if and the why not. Reality was peace not chaos. Reality was joy, not paranoia and fear. Reality was the gift of RAPT attention. Reality was love. 

I wept as I watched the video, moved both by the present moment and by memories of past oneness experiences. I am reminded of how precious oneness is and I count oneness blessings. In weighing it all, I am blessed beyond measure. I am reminded that there are no strangers. I am reminded that our thirst for oneness is as elemental as our need for water and air. (I saw it in the eyes of the people listening to the music and know it in the parts of my mind and heart that know deep truths.) I am reminded that oneness is beautifully simple and powerful in the way that grace and scar tissue and star dust are simple and powerful.