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There is a unifying, or driving, principle that underlies the human search for knowledge. This principle – as perhaps it best can be stated – is the interconnection of all beings and things in our universe. It is based on the viewpoint that, since the beginning of time, there has been only one ongoing Event – a cascade of cause and effect that continues up to and includes the present moment. The universe is continually changing. This is not a mystical revelation, but a perspective that deepens our understanding of everything we think we know.

We enter this world with a sense of connectedness to all that surrounds us, but gradually assume the viewpoint that we are separate beings with individual interests and needs. We begin to believe that our world also is made up of separate parts and events. We spend the rest of our lives trying to balance this concept of separateness with our vague recollection that there is more to reality than our concepts can reveal.

The unifying principle is simple, but our route to knowing our universe becomes complex as we divide our knowledge into many disciplines. As we look around us we do not see these disciplines: no history, no science, and no economics, for example. We have created them in an attempt to explain our world and make our lives better. The way we frame our questions as we pursue understanding are based on the assumptions we already hold about the world. These are found in our disciplines, our culture, and our beliefs. Each of these has a different view of reality which steers us along different paths in our pursuit of knowledge. The Christian perspective, or the American perspective, or the historical perspective – and each of these have many variations – that we bring to our search for knowledge affects the conclusions that we reach about our world and the actions that we take based on these conclusions.

History, for example, reviews the political organization of societies in a hope to provide guidance for our future. Science is based on controlled observation of the physical world. Economics examines the flow of goods and services between people. Our religions teach us their rules for experiencing Divinity in the Creation, and – at their best – encourage us to engage in respectful interactions with everything and everyone around us.

The unifying principle ties together all disciplines and shows us that, ultimately, there is only one What Is. This means that we are part of nature and that nature is part of us. We breathe the air and partake of nature’s production; nature partakes of us as we breathe out and release waste into our world. Our sustenance depends on the quality of our intake, and when we poison the earth we become our own victims. Although our interaction with nature is continuous and ongoing, our concepts provide only snapshots of specific moments that we carry in our minds.

This principle also is behind the founding our nation. The majority of our founders considered themselves Deists. They believed that the Divine force manifests itself in natural laws and processes and is not found in organized religion. They saw God in all of creation – including all human beings. This means that every person – and the natural world on which we depend – is deserving of our respect. All human beings are “created equal” as stated in our Declaration of Independence, and the purpose of our laws is to “promote the general welfare” as mandated by our Constitution. No human being is above any other, and we must always take into account what is best for the whole in our laws and their administration.  It is this principle to which we must continually return if we are to bring the intent of our founders into the fabric of our nation and of our lives.

As we encounter others we experience either a sense of connectedness or separateness, and this affects whether we believe we can cooperate with them or are more likely to compete. When we experience fear, we are less likely to cooperate in setting and moving toward common goals. Keeping the unifying principle in mind reminds us to return to a sense of connectedness and cooperation whenever possible, seeking what works best to meet our long-term needs.

The unifying principle is not just a philosophy that we can use to explain our world – it provides significant insight into the underlying causes and outcomes of events. As we review history we can see that the most successful governments have been those that have served the interests of the greatest number of people. In economics, providing an equitable flow of goods and services to as many individuals as possible always has created the most stability. In education, preparing the greatest number of students for a leadership role – which means teaching the ability to use reason to make the best decisions – affects the potential for survival of every civilization. In science, a willingness to set aside dogma and base conclusions on observation and experiment leads to greater cultural viability. In religion, a willingness to see the perspective of others is the cornerstone of the tenets that can improve our ability to work together and thus our world. Putting aside prejudices – and learning to simply engage the people and world in front of us – positively affects the progress of every civilization.

The idea of the individual who achieves great things as a totally independent driving force is a myth by which individuals – and civilizations – fail. Every hero is backed by a devoted team and every great general knows how to inspire troops. The unifying principle shows us that those who accomplish the most are those who forge a connection with others and are able to use that connection to pursue significant achievements.

In every civilization those in positions of power have sought to maintain and consolidate their advantage. This is natural, and has included aristocracies, bankers, industrialists, railroads, mine owners, insurance and energy companies – to name a few. They all have done their best to influence law makers and judges so that laws are created and interpreted in their favor. But this country was founded on the principle of equal protections, which means that no one is superior or more deserving of special treatment than anyone else. Many influential individuals and corporations who once held power – and ignored the effects of their actions on the average person – eventually lost their influence because they failed to understand that what they do to others eventually affects them as well. Their misdirected sense of self-preservation that ignored those they were supposed to serve became their undoing. Some have brought our country and world to the brink of military or financial ruin because of a short-sighted emphasis on near-term gains rather than the long-term effects of their actions.

Those who make and enforce our laws must have the courage to look past the influence of the powerful to see that our country only can succeed when the needs of all are balanced. They must realign our country with the unifying principle upon which it was founded – including respect for every human being and the world on which we depend – so that the intent of our founders remains in force not only in our day, but also for the foreseeable future.