Healing the Collective:
The Tears of Things
What does it mean to redeem the collective? So much of our modern world is built upon an individualistic mindset, where we understand ourselves as isolated beings responsible only for our own actions, for our own salvation. But the wisdom of the prophets—especially in the book of Jeremiah—invites us to step beyond this narrow vision and embrace a deeper understanding. We are not isolated islands; we are part of a vast, interconnected whole. And this realization shifts everything. When we look at the evils in the world—racism, corporate greed, the normalization of violence—it is far too easy to blame just a few "bad apples" for the suffering we see. But "Collective evil—such as institutionalized racism, corporate greed, structural homophobia, and gun culture—is almost impossible to adjudicate and, sadly, almost always implicates us!" [1] This is a hard truth, one that challenges us to acknowledge that these systemic forces do not only affect the victims, they implicate us all, whether we choose to see it or not. We cannot simply focus on naming individual wrongdoers and casting blame on them. True transformation requires that we see the larger systems at work and recognize our own part in perpetuating them. We are complicit in the patterns of injustice, and if we are to redeem the collective, we must begin by understanding the shared responsibility we all carry.
One of the greatest gifts of spiritual insight in the Bible is its collective understanding of the covenant between Israel and Yahweh. We tend to think of faith as a private, personal matter, but the Bible—especially in the prophetic tradition—reminds us that faith is fundamentally communal. "The entire covenant between Israel and Yahweh is stated in collective language: 'I will give them a heart to acknowledge that I am Yahweh. They shall be my people, and I will be their God.'" [1] This isn't just an agreement for individuals to make on their own; it is a promise for the people, for the whole community. The Divine’s love and call are not directed toward isolated souls but to the collective. And so too must our spiritual journey be understood as a shared path, where we work together toward healing, wholeness, and a more just world. The covenant is a living, breathing reality that touches us all, and if we truly desire to redeem the collective, we must look beyond our individual quests for salvation and recognize our responsibility to the whole.
This collective approach to faith and life is mirrored in the way the Bible handles punishment and grace. The prophets repeatedly show us that both the consequences of sin and the promises of redemption affect not just individuals but entire communities. "It’s notable how the Bible localizes punishment on the earth itself, but not on individual people." [1] When we think of punishment, we tend to picture individual suffering, yet in the biblical narrative, punishment is often a collective experience. It is the land, the people, and the structures of society that bear the weight of sin, not just one isolated soul. And in the same breath, the Bible speaks of collective grace, a promise that the people as a whole will experience restoration. When the prophets speak of the future, they often speak of the whole community being nourished, being redeemed, receiving the blessings of the earth in abundance. Redemption isn’t just for individuals; it’s for the whole community, the entire collective. In this light, we see how closely our fates are intertwined, how our shared life and collective actions shape the world around us. If we are to redeem the collective, we must focus on the restoration of the whole, not just the individual.
The Bible also invites us to see nature and history as ongoing revelations of divine truth, showing us that the physical world is more than just a backdrop to our personal lives—it is a living expression of the Divine. "The Bible is an inspired attempt to write down what reality is saying through nature and history, and only occasionally through personal biography." [1] Nature and the unfolding of history speak louder than any individual experience. They are mirrors reflecting the divine order and presence in the world. In this way, we are called not only to attend to our personal spiritual lives but to open our hearts to the wisdom embedded in the world around us. The events of history, the beauty of creation, and even its suffering are all expressions of a deeper truth, one that we must learn to recognize and trust. By paying attention to the world, we learn to listen to the Divine that speaks through it, revealing the interconnectedness of all things. To redeem the collective, we must attune ourselves to this divine language, listening for the whispers of wisdom in everything around us.
There is the call to trust in the benevolence that undergirds the universe. We live in a world full of suffering, pain, and confusion, and it is easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. But "The continuous storyline is that the joys and disappointments of the visible world are revelations of a less visible one." [1] In other words, everything we encounter—the beauty, the pain, the joy, and the sorrow—is a manifestation of a deeper, divine reality. And at the heart of that reality is benevolence. The world is not governed by chaos or malice, but by a benevolent force that is ultimately guiding us toward redemption and wholeness. Faith is our response to this reality, a trust that, despite the appearance of disorder, the deeper truth of the universe is one of love, care, and ultimate goodness. If we are to redeem the collective, we must hold this trust in our hearts, knowing that the Divine is at work, even in the most difficult moments, shaping our world toward healing.
Redeeming the collective means recognizing that we are all in this together—our actions, our choices, our faith, and our fate are all intertwined. It requires a shift in how we think, from individual salvation to collective healing. We must see the world, and our place within it, as a shared journey, and in doing so, embrace our responsibility to one another and the earth itself.
[1] Richard Rohr, The Tears of Things