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.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend’s
Or of thine own were:
Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
John Donne – No Man Is An Island
This poem, or at least a line of it, popped into my head today. “I am involved in mankind.” Well I am, willingly or not. That is, I guess, one of Donne’s main points. The challenge, I guess, is not in determining “if” I am “involved in mankind,” which seems to be a given. I am a piece of the puzzle, a link in the chain, a cog in the wheel, or, if you will, (this would likely win a majority vote) a “clod” of the universe.
The challenge is not in the “if”, but in the “how.”
It occurs to me... 