May 2, 2010

I believe the fundamental spiritual issue that fair trade practices offer us is the understanding that we are one. We are one family. My brothers, my sisters, my aunts and uncles, my grandmother and grandfather, my mother and father live in Mombasa, Kenya. They live on the island of Madura, Indonesia. They live in the slums of New Delhi, India. We are one family. When Cathy Hackney from Hudson, Ohio visited a village in Nigeria, she returned telling the story of the many children debilitated by rickets, bones that are too soft to support even their small frames. These are her children, my children, your children. We are one family.

But I also believe that in another sense we are literally one. My spiritual practices tell me that I am one with another. My spirit is uniquely, intimately connected with another. Quantum physics confirms it (but that’s for someone else’s blog). And fair trade practices illustrate how my purchasing decisions impact another. When I purchase products that respect the work of my sister in Totonicapan, Guatemala, my soul is enriched as is hers. Treating another with dignity dignifies our selves. Conversely, abusing another damages our own soul. We are one.

Trading fairly offers all of us the opportunity to treat others as ourselves.