Many years ago, according to Genesis, God asked Cain where his brother was. Cain, in a classic reaction of humans feeling guilty and defensive, replied, "Am I my brother�s keeper?" Many authors and philosophers have also addressed this question. During the Renaissance years John Donne, in Meditation 17, stated , " No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind...

He ended it with the classic words, "Never send to know for whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee." A reminder that we are all a part of each other. We cannot ignore the diminishing of life, no matter how distant from us personally, because, like it or not, we are one.

American Indians, among other cultures, had a great sense of not only the brotherhood of mankind, but the brotherhood of all creation. In today�s ecology-aware world, there are many who now realize that what happens to the earth, it�s sea, it�s forests and it�s other creatures, has an effect on all of us. As the dominant species we bear a responsibility for our surroundings. Yet, many of us do not live a life of understanding. Most of us would do lip service to the idea that we are indeed "our brother�s keeper", but it seems to me we get lost when it comes to knowing who our brother is.

The late Steve Allen touched on this theme in a poem about our reactions to a brutal death next door to us, then on the next block, then the next town, the next state and finally one halfway around the world away from us. Those reactions vary in relation to how closely we identify with the victims, but do we fail to relate to many that we should? Without doubt, we do.

So who is our "brother". Is it that man with a different color of skin who lives in the neighborhood that is not as nice as ours? Is it that single Mom who struggles daily to feed both the body and the character of her children? Is it the father who deserted his family? Is the homosexual who fears for his job and his safety in his home if someone finds out about him? Is it that child who shows up at school with an unusual number of bruises on it�s body? Is it that alcoholic man or woman who cannot, from their current state, find any other relief from their current despair except another drink? Is it that person who believes in a different God than we do? Is it any starving child anywhere? Does it include those who take up arms against us? Is it even terrorists who attack and kill without warning? What a disturbing thought!

I will say this. That terrorist was not raised to believe that we were HIS brothers. But if he had been��.would it have made a difference? The most we can know is MAYBE. Maybe if we did not separate ourselves into all these different categories, MAYBE if we didn�t think that our skin color, our religion, our nation or any of the labels we like to slap on ourselves and others was anything except a PART of a larger whole��.maybe it would have made a very real difference indeed. No, the world I talk about does not exist and humans being what they are, it probably never will. Who can know? We have never tried it on a large enough scale to change things. I cannot tell others how to believe. What I can do is tell others what I believe and maybe that will spark some thought in them about whether they live up to what they believe. None of us really do, but we should never give up trying.

Does anyone believe that because a person may have a terminal illness they should immediately disengage from life and lie down to wait to die? Does anyone believe that an EMT finding a person bleeding to death should not attempt to stop the flow of blood? Does anyone believe that if a house is on fire, we should not try to douse the flames? Of course not, why else do we admire the people who rush in, sometimes at their own peril, to attempt to help in those situations.? We admire them because the person who is dying might contribute to and benefit from the time that is left, because the EMT might save a person�s life, because the house and it�s contents might be saved.

I believe in justice for crimes and hurts committed. I believe in a thoughtful, measured and sad punishment for those who hurt and rob others. I do not believe in responding with gleeful descriptions of what tortures we should inflict on the guilty. I believe that those people who use words like "diaper heads", and "niggers" are nothing but terrorists themselves. The only difference in them and those who attack others is a matter of degree of violence. The words "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never harm me" are a bare-faced lie. Words hurt people every day and the damage inflicted lasts. The bruises from a stick or stone heal pretty fast. The injury inflicted by words sometimes never heals. That injury results in fear, and that fear results in anger.

Lately we have seen reports of captured Taliban asking to be turned over to Americans. That is because we have a reputation for fair and just treatment. Wouldn�t it be wonderful if ALL of us lived up to that? Wouldn�t it be wonderful if all of us even TRIED?

So, I write. I write because I, like millions of others, have been touched by those pictures of our tiny planet from space. I write because we share a world. I write because people hurt each other with words and deeds every moment in too many places on this small world. I write because we should all be touched. Most of us know that angry attacks from injured animals are motivated by fear and distrust. Fear of not being accepted, fear of someone who "looks like" someone who has hurt them in the past, fear of being ridiculed and misunderstood., fear that someone having more than us might mean they are somehow better than us, fear of feeling vulnerable in a very hateful world. By the time we reach adulthood, we are all injured animals on some level.

I use a lot of quotes from religion because almost all major religions teach about loving your fellowman. We, as humans, pervert those teachings, too often. I use quotes from songs because I love music and I often see such wisdom in the philosophy behind the lyrics. Willie Nelson once sang a song that said "Don�t ever cuss that fiddle player just because that fiddle�s out of tune, that fiddle player beside you, Boy, ain�t nothing but another part of you�" How wise. Or how about this one���."Try a little tenderness".