Through the Round Window

The 100th anniversary of the Armistice and I thought I'd remember the occasion with a celebration of roundness. We live in a world where hard lines and edges seem to predominate. It takes a lot of effort to build a round window when all the materials are either square or rectangular. But round windows are beautiful and we should have more of them - to help see the world in a more rounded way. The wonderful thing about the circle is that no point on the circumference is any different or more significant than any other. And every point is the same distance from the centre. 

Watch the news and it's easy to believe that society is dominated by tribes of people, all seeking to divide the world along their own lines, into us and them, squaring off against each other. I don't believe that's the case on the ground, amongst real people, amongst people like you and me. It's just that we don't have a loud voice, or the means to make our voices louder. We are the quiet majority who are rounded, looking for similarities rather than differences, seeing the us in them, and the them in us. 

We understand the obvious. No human being in the world is fundamentally any different from any other. And every human being is the same distance from whatever you want to call the centre of existence, be that God or value or meaning, depending on your philosophy. It's all the same.

I had the privilege to be able to spend some time with a group of young people today who gave me enormous hope for the future. They were truly rounded. Intelligent. Caring. Respectful. Passionate. I really don't think they're a minority. Here's to more round windows in the world.