Today, I am thankful for those persons and places that remind us that we cannot succeed without one another.
Nearly 400 years ago, in November 1623, an English poet and cleric in the Church of England, named John Donne, fell gravely ill. Although the etiology of his affliction is not entirely known, scientists and historians postulate he suffered from typhus, a debilitating infection routinely associated with fever and gastrointestinal compromise. For 23 days, he suffered with his condition, believing he was nearing his own demise. In his sickness, his caregivers demanded he rested, but Donne refused. Instead, he decided to chronicle all his thoughts of his near-death experience to paper. What came from his writing is a deep, reflective work of prose, Devotions upon emergent Occasions. Each section of his work comprised the details of that day’s suffering, with a focus on his inner deliberations. By, day 17, he was close to death, when he penned these famous words:
‘No man is an island, entirely of itself. Every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main… Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. Therefore, never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.
In other words, humans cannot live in isolation, so we must strive to live among others in a community. We are all one, and the separation of one diminishes us all. Pretty deep stuff. Amazingly, John Dunne did recuperate from his infectious illness, and he published his work as a meditation towards human suffering.
Many years later, I wonder aloud about the United States and our vision of creating a diverse, melting pot nation from millions of immigrants migrating to the ‘New World.’ In fact, during the Industrial Revolution and the years that followed, one island epitomized this vision. Today, Ellis Island is a small 27-acre island located in the Hudson River, most of which is reclaimed land. In fact, on this day (Apr 21) in 1794, the state purchased the island from the estate of Samuel, Ellis, who owned the original 3.3 acre island, to use the land for federal purposes, namely as a military fort (Fort Gibson) to fortify the US during its early years of independence. For many decades thereafter, it became a US naval artillery site. But, then, after the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution took hold in America. Many immigrants escaped war, famine, and other societal ills by emigrating to the US where work in the factories or other urban regions was rising. The US government repurposed Ellis Island as an entry facility for processing these immigrants seeking a new life in the US. Over a period of nearly 60 years (from 1894 until its official closure in 1954), 12 million Americans of every ethnicity and religious upbringing used this ‘gateway’ for entry into the United States. In fact, epidemiologists estimate that nearly 40% of all current US citizens can trace some ancestor as having passed through Ellis Island.
If you think about it, we are essentially all here in the United States because either our distant ancestors, our parents or grandparents, or we ourselves made the courageous, daunting leap of faith to migrate to this nation. Many came from a more frightening place and during an era of sheer poverty, unrest, and uncertainty. Their incredible sacrifices afforded many, like me, the opportunity to be where I am today. If this is not enough to be thankful for, then frankly I do not know what is.
This small spit of land in the Hudson River is a salient reminder of the community that John Donne so elegantly described. Indeed, no man or woman is an island.
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