Harriet Tubman and Franz Jägerstätter share seemingly insignificant, humble backgrounds. They were people who in the course of ordinary events would have lived and died without notice. But they responded to that divine spark of conscience that led them to resist powerful social and political oppression and the dearth of authentic Christian teaching of their times to make a difference.

Over the years, I’ve thought and written a lot about the idea of interconnection. I think it’s one of the most brilliant conclusions of modern science, from biology to physics to sociology. It echoes the insights of our religious traditions—spanning the doctrine of the Trinity to the revelations of the mystics to the thoughtful words of Pope Francis in his encyclical “Laudato Si’. ” That all things are in some way related to all other things seems to be a basic operating principle of God’s creation.