When I was in seminary, I took an ethics class—it was required for the obvious reasons. Of the many important things I was told, one was to consider that plagiarism was wrong not just because it was a deceit but
also because it was terrible, even sinful, to refuse to acknowledge your connection to the work, the thoughts, the life of another person. It is wrong not to acknowledge our connections, our reliance, our interdependence with others.
We often forget that we are part of a larger circle. But we can feel greater and not lesser when we see our individual accomplishments as linked to the learning and experiences of others in the human community. I try to celebrate all that I have come to know and all that I may become because of my connections to those who came before me and those who live alongside me.
In the words of Albert Einstein, A human being is a part of the whole called by us, “the universe”… [But we] experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of our consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
Touchstones, by Rev. Dr. Natalie Fenimore