Prophecy of the Rainbow Bridge: A reflection on my visit to Shanghai

I was part of a recent Fielding Graduate University delegation to Shanghai, China. We hung out with our partner Keystone, whose coaching and consulting programs were inspired and nurtured by seeds sown by Fielding’s PhD program in Human and Organizational Systems and its Evidence-Based Coaching Program. It was a business trip but we did a lot more than the traditional business. We partnered in building and nurturing community. We were transformed by the experience. We knew without a doubt that what we co-created will continue beyond the conclusion of our trip.

Fielding Graduate University delegation and our Keystone Group partners

While in Shanghai, I met old friends and made new ones. I exchanged ideas with them. I listened and was listened to. I deepened my knowledge of the Chinese people and the place they call home. We broke bread many times, always sitting around a round meal table. In one of those tables, I shared the story of the rainbow bridge. In another, I talked about the marriage philosophy of my Ibibio people.

One of my life’s enduring gifts is that my head and heart always travel together. That was the case on this trip to China. As I sat at one of those round meal tables for the last time, I told a story of the rainbow bridge a native elder and teacher once told me. That story has stayed with me for years and shapes my worldview about all that is possible and what happens when we set aside our differences and come together for the common good.

If you are not familiar with the story, the Rainbow Bridge prophecy emphasizes unity among diverse races and cultures to heal the Earth. It foretells a time when “Warriors of the Rainbow” will emerge, transcending differences to foster peace and understanding. These individuals, representing various colors—red, white, yellow, and black—will work together to restore balance and harmony, becoming examples of right living and spiritual wisdom. This collective effort aims to combat environmental destruction and societal discord, ultimately leading to a new era characterized by justice, peace, and respect for all beings. The elder said one more thing to me. There will be no crossing the rainbow bridge without the coming together of all races.

EBC Program Director Okokon Udo, Ph.D.

I got into thinking about the US/ China relations and what I have been fed to keep us separate and instill fear in me about the other. While I am aware that groups seem to pick on each other as a way of feeling good about themselves and putting the other down, I feel strongly that it does become a source of pain and separation. The result is a world where humans are on the edge, mistrust each other, create separation, rather than unleashing the full range of our collective potential for the common good.

There is a practice I was introduced to by my Nigerian cultural elders. It is set in the context of a traditional marriage ceremony with the coming together of families and communities and the implied pledge that is made in that experience. The underlying belief is that while the marriage is between two humans, it sits on and reenforces a partnership between the two extended families and the two communities they belong to. The marriage is believed to be a coming together of two people, two families and two communities with a pledge that the families and communities are in-laws to each other and cannot harm the other in any way.

Think about that for a moment before I invite us to apply it to our current world situation and specifically to the US/ China relations. Before I proceed further, I want to name what is true for me. I am not a senator, member of the house, an ambassador, policy maker or elected official in any capacity. I am also not the president of the university. I am just a human whose heart has been awakened and sensitized by values that run deep and are grounded in spirituality, social and ecological justice.

I am reminded of an impactful piece I was introduced to during those years of my chemical dependency studies and work. Here it is for reference:

Autobiography in Five Short Chapters. by Portia Nelson. “There’s a Hole in My Sidewalk”

Chapter One I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost … I am helpless. It isn’t my fault.. It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter Two. I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in again. I can’t believe I am in this same place. But it isn’t my fault. It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter Three. I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it there. I still fall … it’s a habit … but, My eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately.

Chapter Four. I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.

Chapter Five. I walk down another street.

If you’re like me, you’re likely wondering, why do I/we keep walking down the same street even when the outcome is familiar and disastrous? I have a not so comforting response. It is a natural part of the human condition.

Our trip had a chapter five outcome. In my own words, it ended with a mutual invitation and calling ourselves forth to sow seeds of hope and help usher in the fulfillment of the rainbow bridge prophecy. Fear and insecurity are often the cause of separation, conflict and aggression. The result is often wars, disparaging remarks about the other, propaganda, belittling the other, not playing fair, wanting the other to fail. Those outcomes and experiences are not what our hurting planet and people need.

I conclude with another lesson from my elder/teacher. We humans have the capacity and ability to command our state, to rise above our defenses and insecurities, to take responsibility for the only civilization entrusted to us, to stop and redirect our energies, to be agents of change and builders of bridges of reconciliation.

As you probably suspect, what keeps me awake at night has to do more with the events unfolding in our global field than what goes on in my little world. As I sat at those tables and broke bread with dear colleagues and people who had become family, I did pledge to do no harm to them and to keep building bridges one person at a time. Something has got to change. Truth be told, we were sitting around the table in Shanghai for such a time as this. As for me and “my house”, I will build bridges of peace and reconciliation. I will work to heal and labor to sustain the planet.

My high dream is that we the people of the world will sit around tables next to or across from people of different countries and cultures, as we visit and do business. As Fielding University tagline invites, I call on all who read this to “Change the world. Start with yours”. May we walk down another street. May we be the change we want to see in the world. May there be peace on earth. And, may we cross the prophetic rainbow bridge together.

The round meal table

Note on the round meal table:

In Chinese culture, the round meal table symbolizes reunion, continuity, and equality. The shape, known as 圆 (yuan), represents togetherness and completeness, aligning with the concept of 团圆 (tuan yuan), meaning reunion. Round tables facilitate communal dining, allowing everyone to face each other equally, which fosters conversation and egalitarianism. This design supports the Chinese tradition of sharing dishes placed centrally, enhancing the sense of unity and collective enjoyment during meals.

Credits:

The Rainbow Bridge story, generated by Perplexity Ai

Round meal table description, generated by Perplexity Ai