Embracing
Diversity
“Diversity
is not about how we differ. Diversity is about embracing one
another's uniqueness.” Ola Joseph
A
quote that came out of our minister's mouth on Sunday has stuck in my
head. He said, “The more we embrace diversity, the more we achieve
unity.” It seems that, in a world bent on tearing itself apart for
reasons of ideology, we are having a very hard time swallowing that
diversity pill. Paradoxically, we are more a one world community than
at any time in our history.
When
we embrace diversity, we not only stop condemning one another for our
differing ways of life, but we enjoy those differences. We have made
great headway in certain quarters. I grew up in the segregated South.
I remember the time when black people in my little mountain town sat
only in the balcony at the one and only movie theater in town; when they went
to different schools. I remember when people didn't readily identify
themselves as Catholic, or Jewish, or gay, for fear of backlash. That
has changed, thank God. Now, in that same little mountain town, there
are large Hmong and Latino communities. They have integrated into the
mainstream, while keeping their cultures of origin intact at home.
They have been embraced by the town as good workers, good parents,
good people, good citizens. Our unity is important enough for us to accommodate, and even celebrate, our diversity.
Our
next great evolutionary challenge is to not only make allowances for
our differences, but to cherish and learn from them. Pray God
that we make the leap.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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