A reflection on solidarity, written as part of the 2015 House of Friendship Campaign. "12 Days for Good".
By Joe Mancini.
“Love is a consciousness of belonging to another, of being part of the whole. To love is to be on the way toward integral wholeness, to live with an openness of mind and heart, to encounter the other - not as stranger - but as another part of oneself.”1
This quote is highlighted on the front page of The Working Centre’s December issue of Good Work News. It is from Ilia Delio’s groundbreaking book The Unbearable Wholeness of Being.
This quote speaks to the deep meaning of solidarity. Delio is a breath of fresh air in the theological world. Her spirituality embraces solidarity as a fundamental constituent part of being. She optimistically reminds us that our evolutionary role as human beings is to model and create “an integral wholeness of love.”
We human beings are just starting to grasp this tall order. We have come a long way, but the word ‘solidarity’ challenges us to our core.
Here at The Working Centre, we see solidarity, the daily contribution to the common good, in the actions of volunteers who everyday offer their skills and abilities to serve community. The work of our community is diverse from fixing bikes, to growing food, to sweeping streets, to cooking meals, to serving meals, to mopping floors, to making movies, fixing computers, wiping tables and washing dishes. Every action is an offering of solidarity, offered to support community and in that way, each action is a model of “an integral wholeness of love.”
These examples of Solidarity help us all to recognize the importance of participating fully in community. Solidarity teaches us to open ourselves to the wholeness of community.
1. Ilia Delio, The Unbearable Wholeness of Being, God Evolution and the Power of Love, Orbis Books, New York, 2013
