How many think we can use more Golden Rule days? Raise your hands. Did you know there is a Golden Rule Day and it’s April 5th? It’s a day to focus on and embody the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would like to have done unto you.” It’s a good rule and it’s a universal principle shared by nearly all cultural, spiritual, religious, and secular traditions on Earth. What could be more needed now than embracing the idea of communal kindness and cultivating a habit of seeing good? Absolutely nothing. 

Except I don’t think it goes far enough. It’s a powerful step in the right direction, and yet it’s not enough. It’s time we moved into the Platinum Rule. I’ve been preaching and writing about it for a long time, and given the last year, it bears repeating – alot – by all of us. Many are familiar with the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would like to have done unto you.” Now listen to the Platinum Rule, “Do unto others as they would like to have done unto them.” In other words, treat others (and really all life) as THEY would like to be treated. You will notice it’s not about the way I want to be treated – the focus is shifted to the other. 

We are a nation built on rugged individualism, and it’s time to engage the other side of the “I and WE paradox. In this transformation from the solitary to the collective, we are called to learn new ways of working together. Over and over again we are invited to see the good at the same time we see the suffering, only then can we discover we are the same at the heart. Do we know what brings us together and what drives us apart? This is what makes the Platinum Rule so transformative. It’s also what makes it more work. 

In order for me to treat you as YOU would like to be treated, I have to connect with you, I have to know you. I have to learn to inhabit what we have in common and celebrate what makes us unique and different. I must learn what brings us together and what drives us apart so we can deepen our practices of healing together – of compassionate service. Dr. Robert D. Enright, the “forgiveness trailblazer” and Co-founder of the International Forgiveness Institute said, “We need to prepare the hearts of the children for the conflicts they will inherit.”

Someday you will be someone’s ancestor, so what will you say when future generations ask how you spent your time here on earth? #platinumrule #goldenrule #togetherness #getourholyon Share on X

When we can listen and give of ourselves deeply and freely, we naturally evolve from our exploration and focus on our inner self to the practice of care between self and other. We can reveal the power of togetherness, and how collectively we add more meaning and abundance to our individual lives. The “I” gives way to the “WE” which in turn gives way to a more holy and noble “I.” We embrace the eternal paradox of caring for self AND caring for others. Someday you will be someone’s ancestor, what will you say when those generations to come ask “How did you spend your time here on earth?” I would ask, “Are you willing to do the work now knowing you may never see the fruits of your labor?”

Ultimately, in order to embody this dance in the paradox, I must be willing to step into the mystery and the unknown to give a part of myself away, in order to become part of the greater whole. Imagine a river running into an ocean… it loses its “riverness” yet never its inherent qualities of being a river. It must relearn how to be a river within the vastness of the ocean. For me that means I must be present enough to you until who you are, what matters to you, what you long for, is revealed, and then I can see how I am connected to everything. I don’t lose myself and my inherent divinity by becoming part of the greater whole, but by going platinum. If anything, our inherent divinity becomes magnified and expressed, and together we find what is possible for all life.

Imagine a river running into an ocean… it loses its 'riverness' yet never its inherent qualities of being a river. #platinumrule #goldenrule #togetherness #getourholyon Share on X

Whether we know it or not, we have been stitching our world together this past year, even while watching massive unraveling, suffering, and devastation. Yet each point of pain is a place to begin again and again. Not a place to blame, but a place to move from gold to platinum. I need to see every example of heart-centered goodness and resilience I can find, because it reminds me of the river and the ocean, that I can never lose my inherent divinity, only magnify it by remembering we need each other in our humanity – platinum style.

An edited version of this article originally appeared in the March/April 2021 issue of Unity Magazine. The publication shares thoughtful perspectives on exploring and applying spiritual principles in your life. To subscribe, call 1-800-248-6489 or visit ONLINE.