Let There be LIght

What is this thing...family?

Is it truly defined by birth and blood,
  or do we confuse a reproductive mechanism
  to continue the species
  with the true meaning of family?
.............

Just now, I was taken up and found
  myself among the stars,
  gliding effortlessly through the universe.

On Eagles's back, I found my self,
  soaring through the stars to learn
  the answer
  to my question.

I saw the earth, darkened by night,
  all round.
  Individual sparks of light appeared,
  scattered around the earth.
  Each spark, I recognized as one soul.

Then, my eyesight sharpened
  and I saw the sparks moving,
  recombining into various clusters,
  then splitting again and re-combining.

But more than that,
  I saw the dark spaces between the clustered lights.
  I saw the dark spaces grow
  and felt the dark as enmity, fear, loathing.

As the clusters broke apart, I felt
  separation, anxiety, pain, hurt.
  And, the migration of light between clusters
  felt as a break
  in the continuous connection
  that is life.

I saw 'families' in every continent
  torn apart by
  difference, by
  war, by
  fear, by
  misunderstanding, by
  intolerance...

And I wept,
  for in each break,
  the darkness grew,
  creating artificial separation
  and cloaking the truth
  that

we are all one family.

We are different.
  We were meant to be different.
  Our difference can make us strong,
  can reveal to us the beauty that is life.

Yet, our difference
  so frightens us
  that we choose separation
  instead of standing close
  to that
  which we can not understand.

I imagined a world in which
  we dare to reach beyond
  preconceived notions of family
  and our fear of difference.

And, I saw the individual clusters of light
  join,
  one by one,
  creating a path across the darkness,
  allowing life to flow freely
  between the light clusters.

In fascination, I watched
  as the light traversed the darkness
  connecting one to another
  and another,
  lighting up the world,
  and creating a luminescence that shown
  throughout the universe.

Once, a dark planet reflecting the sun,
  it transformed,
  now creating its own luminescence,
  dim at first,
  but expanding as each individual
  reached beyond hir fear to touch
  difference and recognize the other
  as hir sister/brother.

  One light shining ever more brightly
  as each learned the truth.

We are one family - all.
  One.

Let there be light.