The Gift of Diversity (10/24/2026)

It is often said that opposites attract. My husband and I could be the poster children for that philosophical camp. He’s tall and I’m short. He is a man of few words, and I usually find a way to use as many words as allowed. He’s Lithuanian and I’m Irish. His favorite movies are Hallmark because they end happily while mine are often the ones that end poorly but prove a point. After 57 years of being together, we can tell you that being different from the one you love adds to the journey rather than detracts.

Think of a garden or a field of wildflowers. What adds to the beauty is the variation, the diversity. We are created diverse, may I even say unique, for a reason. It is part of the divine design. And that is one of the reasons I not only dislike the cancel culture, I fear it, because it is taking us in the wrong direction. The unity that is at the heart of the LORD’s will for us is not that we are united because we are identical, it is that we are united because we recognize the richness of our gifts, lives, and loves brought together for a common purpose.

A perfect example is my family. I can’t imagine a more diverse group of 15 individuals. We have philosophers and doers, we have introverts and extroverts, we have people who love their technology sitting next to those who love time spent quietly in a pastoral setting, we have mountain lovers and seaside lovers, we have talkers and listeners. And in spite of all these differences, when we come together, as ourselves, adding to the moment only what we can bring, our family time fills each of us and allows us to give even more of ourselves to the other.

The LORD desires that we be united not identical. The LORD, through the example of the blessed Trinity, unity and diversity in perfect tension, shows us the unfathomable possibilities if we are true to who we have been created to be and open to sharing it with others who are different for a common, loving purpose. Love, authentic love, is at the heart of this unity for it allows the other to see the beauty in the difference.

Our journey in faith, hope and love highlights the need to not only accept the difference in others but to celebrate those differences when they are harnessed to create together what we cannot create alone. Our journey in faith, fueled by love has hope because we recognize that our common love of the LORD and love for one another makes good possible and allows us to fight evil together. Our journey brings us in contact with so many who are unique, unlike us in ways, but also like us hope. This hope, fueled by love, allows us to join forces, to accompany one another, knowing we are headed to the same destination.

This day, let us not only notice the difference but through the love of the LORD and gift of the Spirit celebrate them. As the living Body of Christ, let us celebrate that we are not all feet or all thumbs.  Let us not only celebrate how we have been brought together for a common purpose but commit to functioning as the living Body of Christ, each of us unique, but each of us contributing what we can with all the love we can every moment we have.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.