I know, tan. I mean who chooses their favorite color to be tan.
Someone does and they just love it. Not red or blue but tan.
I am actually intrigued by human behavior and how different we all are and how God has such a sense of humor that He throws us all in a huge fishbowl and somehow expects us to co-exist and actually get along. It’s so easy to understand people like ourselves and connect with people who have similar interests. Talking with people who think like us or who are the same politically, spiritually or culturally is good because we agree.
How boring would that be though? What are we missing by not engaging in conversations that are diverse? How much would we really accomplish?
My Husband
I remember after my husband and I got married I asked if He wanted to play cards and He asked if I was serious, I laughed and said Ummm yes! I mean I warned him that there would be things He needed to learn about me.
Ok, so I learned he finds me amusing but c’mon I needed a game, a little friendly competition in cards or Yahtzee. He wanted a book. We settled somewhere in the middle with a movie. I got my card game fix when we visited my in-laws in Alabama.
Differences
Differences that can be #firstworldproblems!
Like, people saying tomato is a fruit, not sure who these freaks are because we all know fruits are sweet and clearly a tomato is a vegetable.
Some say Vase (long A); some say, Vos. I guess that’s determined by your economic status, not sure on that one.
What about your friends who choose scrabble over Monopoly.
Or their idea of relaxing is Sudoku or crossword puzzles.
Oh my, shoot me now, that critical skill thinking thing always tripped me up. As I daydreamed and floated off into my own world of creativity (that’s what we call those ADD types) I knew in a scary way I walked quirky through life. Artsy and beautiful words are more my taste and bent. Oh how I loathed math, still do by the way.
Our Need for Variation
There isn’t a better way to live than to be unified with people who have different interests, different gifts, different belief systems, different tastes and opinions than yours.
We can fully embrace each other and acknowledge how different we are and accept that we do life differently. I’ve never understood why the faux pas is to never talk about politics or religion. I mean why not? Are we such an insecure people group that we can’t have an intelligent conversation without reducing ourselves to the level of a child and taking our marbles and going home?
Make it Intentional
What if we humbled ourselves enough to intentionally surround ourselves with people different than ourselves? People who love the color tan who can help me tone down my love of bright yellow.
Sally field once said about her best friend Goldie Hawn. “I keep her grounded and she helps me fly.”
Opposites attract when you can embrace and appreciate what someone else is gifted with and learn from each one.
Opposites attract when there is respect for someone who doesn’t believe the same as you do yet you appreciate what each other brings to the table. When there is humility, there is an openess and an ability to hear another person’s perspective and point of view.
Diversity.
It’s what makes the world go around.
The Bible talks about it.
1 Corinthians 12 goes into detail about the variety and diversity of a body functioning. After Paul goes into what this looks like in v.25 Paul says that the members should have the same care for one another.
Every person matters. Every role matters. Each one, a contributing member of society with different backgrounds, different convictions different education levels and economic backgrounds.
Are You Open?
Are we so close minded that we don’t think someone else could challenge us in a healthy way?
So dogmatic in our religion or position that we cannot listen and try to understand their faith or lack thereof. Granted there are people who rub us the wrong way, personality differences that separate us and in some cases we are glad to be separate from them. But, I think we are wise to at least be open and discerning enough to weigh out the differences in our view points.
What are your thoughts on Diversity?