to CO-EXIST...

J.M.J.
Apr. 20, 2009

There was one time a young lady approached me and asked me if she (or they) could co-exist with the other youth in the parish. She wanted me to think about the meaning of what she said…”TO CO-EXIST”.

I would like to share to everyone and to her what l read about “to co-exist”.
The vast majority of the poeple we see in our everyday life, at work, while travelling, in the marketplace, even in our neighborhhod, are people we do not meet except perhaps at a very superficial level. We just happen to “CO-EXIST” with them. By the way, here is a word that should never be used in the field of dialogue. To be in dialogue has nothing to do with co-existence. The aim of dialogue is not to co-exist! The tragedy of life is precisely that most people merely co-exist, even those who ought to have close relationships, such as immediate neighbors, colleagues at work and, especially married couples. One of my muslim friends upon hearing me voice my dislike for the word “co-existence”, proposed the word “pro-existence.” I like it: living for one another in life, not just side by side.

This is a learning that all of us should remember. This is a reality. We should know the very essence of our existence and of others. By acknowledging the presence of others is one way of acknowledging their existence.