IN CELEBRATION OF DIVERSITY

 Psalm 19:1-4 (NIV)

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

                As I sat at the table eating my breakfast, I looked out of the window at the gently falling snow, enhancing the blanket of white that transformed my backyard into a winter wonderland. In that moment, a thought came to me about the diversity of the world in which we live. I praised God that He did not create a boring, one dimensional, unimaginative world.

                Think about it. Sameness is boring. Not only is it boring, it is numbing. We struggle with routine because it dulls our senses and slowly drains our energy. When everything is the same our world fades into blurry shades of gray. Sameness stifles creativity. Sameness makes our world rigid and small. In a world of sameness there is nothing to get excited about, nothing to pique our interest, nothing to stir us emotionally.

                I am blessed to live in a part of the world that experiences the changing of the seasons. There is something about each season that I relish, that stirs a sense of excitement within me. There is also something about every season that I don’t particularly enjoy. Whether I am rejoicing or complaining, the diversity of our world is energizing me to feel, experience, and interact.

                The cold and snow of winter can be an inconvenience, yet it brightens our drab world. A brisk walk in the snow is complimented by a roaring fire and a cup of hot coffee. The heat and humidity of the summer can make us uncomfortable, yet it yields flowers and fruit and vegetables that enhance our lives. Each season is a mix of blessings and challenges, which remind us that we live in a dynamic, ever-changing world.

                I believe that God designed the diversity of the world as an on-going gift to us. If nothing else, the diversity of our world delights our senses. It stirs our emotions. It reminds us that we are alive. It invites us to interact with the world around us.

                But the diversity of our world also points us to God. The diversity of our world points to the creativity of God. He could have created a mono-chromatic world where everything was in shades of gray. Instead, He created a world awash with vibrant color in a multitude of shades. He could have created a uniform world where there was just one kind of everything: one kind of dog, one kind of cat, one kind of bird, one kind of horse, and one kind of people. Instead, He created a world with endless variety. Although each species conforms to a certain set of criteria, each individual within that species is unique. We can quickly recognize that a bird is a bird, but many people have spent their lives cataloging the vast array of different kinds of birds.

                Even with all of the diversity that God has designed into our world, there is an underlying order and conformity to God’s design. When things vary from God’s design, they become deformed and disoriented. The beauty that God designed into His creation is distorted and marred. What God designed to be beautiful becomes ugly and repugnant.

                God designed humanity to reflect His diversity and creativity. He did not make us all the same, instead He endowed each of us with unique characteristics and qualities. These unique qualities are what make us interesting. As we share our unique qualities with one another, we are enhanced. We bring out in others qualities that are often hidden and can be revealed only through interaction with others. But Satan has twisted God’s design and introduced a diversity that is contrary to it. Instead of drawing us together, our diversity has built walls between us. Jesus came to break down those walls and draw us back to God’s original design.

                I rejoice in the diversity God has placed in nature and in humanity. Each individual piece of God’s creation is part of an eternal jig-saw puzzle. Each part of God’s creation fits into a particular place in that puzzle. It is when we try to put the pieces in the wrong places that we get in trouble. God’s original design is perfect. We cannot “improve” upon it. When we fully recognize this, we can relax and enjoy the gift that God has blessed us with.

Genesis 1:31 (NIV)
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.