Buddhist leader, Thich Nhat Hanh wrote a letter to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with an unexpected outcome. They met only two times and became not only allies in the peace movement but friends as they set aside their differences in religion, culture, and the fact that their countries were at war with one another. The vibrancy and inspiration of their friendship is alive today and has practical implications as we strive together to embrace a life more deeply connected with the capacity for transformation in this imperiled world. The two men bonded over a shared vision of what the late Congressman John Lewis called “The Beloved Community.” Bishop Andrus responded to the question about what this community is like and what the world would look like in which we are in mutual relationship. He said, “We live in a world where some people are objects, the Earth is an object… And thus, they’re available to be used and abused. This is the prevailing worldview. The Beloved Community is quite different than that. It’s a place where all those objects suddenly emerge as equal to each other and what binds them together is overflowing love… So, if you and I are connected by love that is different than being connected by profit desire, or by fear, or by hatred. We’re connected by love. And a world connected by love, at peace with itself, is the beloved community.”
