The World House, Deganawidah, etc….
Dr. King’s “The World House” is exactly how I wish everyone would view the
world. The earth is all of the human race’s house, and despite the fact that we all live in
different rooms, upstairs and downstairs, in the garage, and maybe some of us spend
more time in the kitchen, the point is that we’re all in the same house - we are all one,
separated by boundaries and boarders like walls between rooms.
King makes the observation that solving the problems between African
Americans and Caucasian Americans will not solve the rest of the fighting in the house.
Yes, it would be true that between blacks and whites, there would be peace, but what
about the Middle East and the US on a whole? The point he is trying to get across is that
while we are all under this one roof, this earth, we must all begin to make peace with
each other. “The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually.”
Deganawidah’s piece is a strange parallel to Jesus, as Deganawidah claims to be
carrying the Mind of the Master of Life, which only can be assumed as a God-like figure.
His solution to the wars and destruction occurring is to create the longhouse which will
create a common ground while still respecting boundaries. Pretty much, Deganawidah’s
situation is micro-version of the one Dr. King was speaking about, but both situations can
be solved with the longhouse metaphor (even if Deganawidah’s longhouse was literal).
The corn verse tells us again that while we may all look different and speak
differently, etc., we all originated from the same source and that is the one constant that
keeps us all equal, because we are all human beings.