Diversity

Yesterday there were four cars ahead of me while I was stopped at a light and I noticed that they looked like a chess board. Side by side were two identical SUV's - one black, one white. Beyond them was a pair of nearly identical sedans, but this time, the one on the left was white and one on the right was black.

When I got to my destination, I parked and noticed that the pine tree in front of me was not one color, but two: the inner needles were green and the outer ones were gray. Next to it was a leafy bush whose mature leaves were dark loden and the new growth almost lime. I've been mulling over these contrasts ever since.

Clearly, our world is not monochromatic - not in its foliage, its manufactured products or its people. In everything there is contrast. We are not created to be the same. If we were, Adam would have been satisfied to simply make another buddy and not a woman.

We all spend our lives, though, trying to make others to be just like ourselves. We complain when friends or spouses don't have the same interests or reactions that we do. We judge people for dressing differently or expressing themselves in a way that sets them apart. We shun those whose behavior we don't condone. We willingly give away our freedom to decide for ourselves and follow the herd instead.

There are several scripture verses in which St. Paul chastises the various churches who have thrown away, as he says in Galatians, "the freedom we have in Christ. (Gal 2:4)" In frustration he chastises them for being taken over by rules made by humans: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!" (Col 2:21)
He rails against those who judge others by what they eat or drink or how they are trying to "earn favor with God" by observing special "days and months, seasons and years (Gal 4:10)."

He admits that "Such regulations indeed have the appearance of wisdom," but states that they don't help us control ourselves. It is the Christ within us who enables us to live and love and birth His Spirit into the world. Change comes from the inside, not imposed by a plethora of rules made by others on the outside.

Unity and sameness are not synonymous. Some religions, in their quest for oneness, have made sameness the criterion for accomplishing it. If that were a value, I believe nature would look different and so would we all. We are called, instead, to be united in a vision: love God and love our neighbor. The more rules we make as to how to accomplish the vision lead to disagreements and disunity. The more rules, the more controversy.

I would never call myself a libertarian - and I'm grateful for for many of the protections of the twenty first century - but I am beginning to chafe under the rules that keep popping up to direct our behavior. Both our churches and our nation are feeling the need to narrow our choices and monitor our actions. Whether it's fining a kid's lemonade stand for not having a permit or limiting who touches the communion vessels after the service, we seem to be at the mercy of others who are sure they know better than we how we should live.

I prefer the "freedom of the children of the God" (Rom 8:21).