“It’s a small world after all.” The Disneyland ride that airs this lyric speaks to the bond of innocence that unites children across all races and cultures. This bond does not age well as differing societies reshape individuals into respective reflections of their uniform norms, languages, and core values. We are unwittingly sorted into differing cultural, racial, ethnic categories. And yet we all share the same place in the universe, that is, a small pebble in a vast galaxy amongst more galaxies than humankind can even count. Indeed, we live in a very small world.

A pandemic can quickly cross oceans and invade continents within days. Global warning will endanger all life forms, including the human species. Oceans will eventually engulf seaside cities. Rivers will routinely overflow flood plains. Fire hurricanes will burn the foliage that breathes life into our atmosphere. And violent weather, like a vengeful god, will uproot societies on every continent. As our planetary rock circles its star, the seasons will continuously threaten human societies with unbearable heat and sub-zero cold. At some not too distant point in the future, humans will realize that their survival on this rock depends upon them. To quote John Donne,
“No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.”

Truly, it is a small world. But it is ours . . . as long as we can maintain it.