Oneness Is Not an Ideal—It Is Our Responsibility
We Baha’is believe that the most important task before us is bringing about the oneness of humankind. And perhaps there has never been a time in our history when this principle —this idea — is more critical.
I’ll tell you honestly, I got to a point where I felt depressed. I stopped watching the news. Because every time I did, I found myself asking: What in the world is going to happen to my kids, my grandkids, and future generations? The world feels like it’s in a terrible mess.
And yet, the Baha’i teachings are very clear: the only answer is for us to recognize the oneness of humankind.
Now here’s the part we don’t always stop to consider—oneness is not something far off in the future. It has already become an established fact. It is here. You may not like it. You may not want it. But it is here.
Science confirms it. The Human Genome Project has shown that all of us share between 95 and 98 percent of the same genetic makeup. We are, fundamentally, the same.
And beyond science, just look around you. The speed of travel, the internet, telecommunications—they have all worked to bring us together. I sometimes say, if you want to see the oneness of humankind, just go to Costco on a Saturday. Everyone is there—every language, every background, every culture. It’s all there in one place.
Oneness is a reality. What we need now is a new paradigm.
We need moral clarity. We need psychological understanding. And we need a spiritual awakening—an awakening that helps us recognize what is already true: we are one human family.
We talk about loving our neighbor. But the truth is, our neighborhoods are not what they used to be. And if we are to survive—if we are to thrive—we have to learn to love a neighbor even when that neighbor looks nothing like us. That is the challenge before us.
The great traditions have all pointed us in this direction. The vision of turning swords into plowshares. The hope of one fold and one shepherd. And as Baha’u’llah reminds us: “You are the fruits of one tree and the leaves of one branch.”
But let me share a story.
There was a group of devoted people who went into the countryside to pray for the coming of the Kingdom of God on earth. They prayed fervently. And then, the sky opened and down came a parachute carrying a large box. They opened it, and inside was a smaller box labeled: “Kingdom of God on Earth—Do-It-Yourself Kit.”
In other words, the work is ours.
If the world is to become better—if we are to achieve peace, if we are to realize the oneness of humankind, which has been the dream of all the prophets—it begins with something very simple and very profound: the recognition that each one of us is made in the image and likeness of God. There are no exceptions.
So, when you see someone who looks different from you, remember: that person, too, is made in that same image. And when we truly accept that, it becomes very difficult to hold onto division.
If unity is to be achieved—if peace is to come—we are going to have to get up and make it happen. It will not happen automatically.
And I hold onto this hope: that in the near future, when we gather again, we will not be talking about what the world should be—but about how wonderful it has become—full of peace, full of unity, and grounded in the truth that we are one.