Resisting the Illusion of Separateness

One of the things I love about One Spirit is its commitment to resist that illusion of separateness through education and the sacred practice of being together. People come together at One Spirit to practice being a manifestation of love in the world—rooted in the truth that we’re more than connected… we are interdependent. We come from the same Source. Therefore, your survival and thriving are bound up in mine.

When I first began leading at One Spirit, I got a lot of pushback from my Christian community.

It wasn’t blatant, open questioning—it was more of a lingering “Are you sure about that?” that hung in the air whenever I would talk about my work.

So much of the Christian identity is about being separate. I’m reminded of the verse where Jesus says:

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword”(Matthew 10:34).

I understand the call in that verse—the need to ritualize a kind of consecration, to be exclusively used by God. But in this season, authentic coalition building is necessary. The times demand that we come together across difference, without losing the depth of our convictions, to resist the forces that would keep us apart.

What made me know this was the work for me was the vision of justice and solidarity—a spirituality of interdependence made possible.

I had always worked in fields committed to building momentum and capacity for people from different races and vantage points to work together to build a more just and loving society.

So the idea of rooting that kind of solidarity in spirituality not only made sense to me—it was a welcome strategy that brought together two key values in my life. The theory that undergirds this is the notion that we are all connected by a common source.

We are all created by God and made in God’s image—Imago Dei.

Many religions echo this truth in their own ways: that there is a divine imprint in every person, and that to harm another is to harm something sacred. Whether in Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, or countless Indigenous traditions, this conviction grounds the belief that every human life carries infinite worth.

Some call it Spirit. Some call it God. Others call it the Universe. What matters isn’t the name—it’s that we recognize a shared responsibility for one another. That’s the work we need right now.

That’s the kind of leadership, friendship, and community that challenges division the most.

For me, that means building in a way that doesn’t just serve my own growth, but reinforces the truth we’re all a part of something bigger.

That our lives are tied together.

That there is no “them.”

There is only “us.”

Courtney Bryant

CEO, One Spirit Learning Alliance