We are all One. Let's live that way.

By Steve Farrell

In the spring of 2003 spiritual author, Neale Donald Walsch invited about 20 people to his home in Ashland, Oregon.  He shared he was going to start a movement focused on our Oneness with the Divine, humanity and all of life.  He said the illusion of separation was the root problem in the world causing all our pain and suffering.  He wanted to know who would join him in launching a movement, Humanity’s Team.  I offered to get involved and help.  In June, 2003 we gathered approximately 800 people in Wilsonville, Oregon to launch Humanity’s Team.

Shortly after Humanity’s Team was launched, Neale asked if I would take on the role of the Worldwide Coordinating Director and lead Humanity’s Team (of course he offered his ongoing assistance).  A few years earlier I sold all of my interests in companies I co-founded based in Silicon Valley, CA and had decided to devote my life to a spiritual path so this was an easy decision for me.

I gathered a volunteer leadership team from around the world and we created a governance structure, a non-profit organization and plan to awaken Oneness in the world.  Even to this day we are almost all volunteers.

In 2008, our Humanity’s Team Global Council decided to create a Oneness petition.  Our idea was to gather 50,000 signatures from around the world and then bring the petition and signatures to the United Nations to request the United Nations create a Oneness Day.  We believed a day dedicated to awakening Oneness was long overdue.  Over the millennia spiritual leaders, philosophers and scientists have shared we are all connected, we are all One, but this awareness has been confined to intellectual and spiritual circles.  If this awareness were to come into the mainstream everything would change.  If we see the Sacred, the Divine, in each person and all of life, we must create new processes, institutions and organizations reflecting this.  If we are One, we self-identify this way, and come into compassionate service to the world around us.   

Earth Day succeeded in creating consciousness focused on stewarding the earth.  We reasoned a Oneness Day would see the same success but it would take far less time because of the advent of the internet and mobile devices.

All of our Global Council became energized and helped gather signatures.  We could see we were going to exceed 50,000 signatures in the May 2010 timeframe so we planned a meeting in New York City and arranged to meet with Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury at the United Nations.  He was the leading emissary for the Culture of Peace so he was a natural to host us.  When we met at the United Nations on May 20th, 2010 we brought over 52,000 signatures from over 150 countries requesting a Oneness Day.

During our program we called on Ambassador Chowdhury to bring our Oneness petition to the floor of the United Nations to begin discussions concerning a Oneness Day.  Ambassador Chowdhury agreed a focus day was necessary and even said, “Until there is a sense of solidarity among the peoples of the world all our efforts for peace and security will go nowhere.”  Then, he suggested Humanity’s Team create a Oneness Day and said it would take too long for the 192 nations represented at the United Nations to take up discussion and come to consensus.

Shortly following our trip, we convened a Humanity’s Team Global Council call and agreed to create Global Oneness Day on October 24th, United Nations Day.  United Nations Day already stood for many of the very same ideals.  It seemed fitting they share the same day.

Our conference call line only held 1,000 people in 2010 so the first Global Oneness Day was limited to this number of people during our hour long telesummit.  Many created community events, drumming circles, outreach programs and performances, as a result, far more participated that year.

Leaders from around the world have generously given of their time and The Association for Global New Thought and The Shift Network co-convened with us in subsequent years giving Global Oneness Day a huge boost.  Global Oneness Day has only grown into what it has become through the efforts of volunteers, co-conveners, leaders, speakers, publicists and participants who have taken up the cause so we may create an awakened world and planet that works for everyone.

Last year over 40,000 registered to participate in the Global Oneness Day telesummit and we are planning for 50,000 to 100,000 this year.  On-the-ground programs including:  New Thought church services, a Global Rhythm Circle, Oneness walks, celebration events, food drives, classroom activities, the Oneness Hand Signal, and participation in T.V. and radio broadcasts will lift the total number of participants much higher.  

Father Thomas Keating said, "We are distinct but never separate."  Oneness with the Divine and all of life is an entitlement we are born with but we must become involved if we are to claim this and live this way.  Together, we can create a tipping point in this generation but we must all become involved.

The Dalai Lama is calling for a compassionate world.  Pope Francis is calling for solidarity of people all over the world to create social justice.  Most parents are calling for a more sane, more sustainable, more enlightened world they may leave to their children.  When we come together in a consciousness of Oneness we create these things and more.  Global Oneness Day invites us to awaken to Oneness so we may live this way.  Perhaps it is time for all of us to get involved.  Will you join with us?   

To learn more about Global Oneness Day and to register, click here. Invite your friends, click here.

You can help promote Global Oneness Day to your group by contacting Jewel Alexander at: jewel.alexander@humanitysteam.org        

Steve Farrell is the Worldwide Coordinating Director for Humanity’s Team, a global grassroots spiritual movement focused on awakening and embodying Oneness so humanity may enjoy a sustainable world of peace, harmony and happiness. It presently has about 100,000 teammates in over 150 countries and provides resources for personal transformation, creates educational programs, and engages in spiritual activism projects.

Spiritual Activism projects include: Global Oneness Day, a day Humanity’s Team created following its visit to the United Nations in May, 2010, a Oneness Declaration gathering signatures so the United Nations will endorse Global Oneness Day, an annual spiritual leadership award, an initiative called 'Oneness in the Twelve Spheres of Life' that is making Oneness tangible on-the-ground in communities around the world, Humanity's Team University including a summit called, ‘Living in Oneness – The Five Pillars for Success’ and programs focused on living in Oneness and helping people and the environment.

Before Steve became involved with Humanity’s Team he co-founded and led two high growth technology companies based in Silicon Valley, California.  But he walked away because he felt we could create a new dream based on our Oneness with the Divine and the sacred in all of life that the whole world could participate in. He now lives with his wife Stephanie and two children in Boulder, Colorado, where Humanity’s Team is based. To learn more, click here.