No one really believes in Santa, right? The very notion of someone solving the world’s hardest travelling salesman problem (NP-complete, for the geeks out there) and a hypersonic transportation issue not to mention moving that much mass around, and coming down chimneys? It is almost enough to make dark matter/dark energy look like a reasonable hypothesis. But I digress.

The fact is that under the influence of the modern Winter festival, Christmas, Xmas, Yule, Festival of Togetherness or whatever you want to call it (Festivus, for the rest of us…) millions if not billions of people receive gifts. And the ordinary miracle of it is obvious. We do not need a meteor-fast bearded transportation genius and infeasibly empowered magical creatures to make it all happen. It happens.

How come? Well, the ‘spirit’ of Christmas seems a bit twee and cliched, however it is what makes it happen. Billions of people buy-in to the idea that this night of all nights is the time when giving happens en-masse; and it happens. Because we all do it. An ordinary, every day, simple miracle. No need for an omnipresent being. We are it – we are present everywhere. And so it happens.

Now, take God in whatever form; Krsna, Yaweh, Allah. In all of the traditions that recognize a single deity, they are able to see everything happening everywhere. They are present in all things and meet every moment with mercy and compassion. And – well, depending on the tradition and the interpretation, it can sometimes get a bit skewed from the ‘goodwill to all men’ message – however I believe the core message of all is ‘peace’. Having the power to bring that everywhere, all of the time. We do. If we choose to.

You do not need a supernatural being outside of us to provide that. If everywhere compassion is needed, it is brought – where mercy is needed it is shown, where shelter is needed it is given, where comfort is needed it is provided. We do that. People do that.

I remember the story of a woman who was waiting on top of her flooded house as the waters rose. A boat came by and offered rescue. The woman refused rescue claiming instead she was waiting for God to rescue her. Well, she drowned not realizing that God had shown up in a boat ready to save her and lost her life because maintaining the illusion of separateness was more important to her right then.

I believe Ghandi was right when he implored his followers to ‘Be the change they wanted to see in the world.’ Following this teaching, we become the eyes, the hands, the hearts of God. What creates Heaven on earth is simply this (in my humble opinion); WE ARE IT.

What does this have to do with Graph Theory? Well, so the theory goes, every human on earth is connected to each of us by no more than six degrees of separation. The internet has spread networks of influence across distances that before were impossible. The walls that exist in this connected world are the weaknesses, the small number of connections between the well-connected communities (sub-graphs) that share common belief and therefore readily communicate with each other… The echo chambers…

If this New Year, after a year of division and separation is to mean anything and make a change, then let it be rebuilding those connections between these communities. Our common humanity is stronger than anything that divides us. We all wish for peace and the ground for it to exist and grow. For our happiness and that of those we Love. All that divides us is in how we believe we will get there. How about we spend time connecting on the level of what we share, and not get confused by the strategy of how to get ‘there’ – or by the leaders who would divide us by projecting their internal war out into the world. We might find here is a good place, that can we can make even better.

The answer is Love. It is up to us to keep asking the question and see the opportunity to bring it into existence, moment to moment.

Ok 2018; let’s go.