Diversity is a great thing in theory, but in the practice of it, there are many challenges. Working and living side by side with people who are not like you in race, culture, sexual orientation, spiritual beliefs, politics, education or economic station can bring up a lot of garbage for us. It can bring up prejudices and discomfort that we didn?t even know we had.
Not that this is a bad thing. How are we going to experience a healing of these separation devices if we don?t look at them, and how are we going to look at them if we don?t know they are there? And please know that this healing is our purpose in life. Recognizing the unconditional nature of love is our function. Unity, the recognition that we are one in God, rather than many in the world, is why we are here, and we cannot know this if we think we are different. Galatians 3:28 says, ?There is no longer Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave nor free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ.?
Every time we look at another person and think, ?This person is not like me,? we separate ourselves from our brother, and in our mind, this separates us from God. God knows us as He created us, not as we imagine ourselves to be. To know God, we must release our own creation and accept ourselves as He created us. If we do not know God?s creation, we cannot know God.
Separation is what was really in Pandora?s Box. In separation we move from one perfect and holy creation of God, to many different forms that exist in bloody competition with each other, fighting endlessly for their share of a limited supply. We don?t have to worry about going to hell, we put ourselves there already with our belief in separation.
Diversity sounds like a good idea at first. It is the idea of many different kinds living side by side peacefully. In the world, it is a lofty idea. In truth it is just another effort to keep our own version of creation in place of God?s. Being separate and constantly at war with each other over one thing or another is pretty wearing, so we?ll keep our individuality and just put up with each other. So, what are the chances of that working? How often has it worked in the past?
What really happens is that when I see someone as different from me I judge whether this is good or bad. Jesus warned us about judging. It doesn?t lead to wholeness. When I look at the person in front of me and I think they are in error, I know that I am the one in error.
I am reminded of something very wise that I read. It said, ?Do not worry about the condition of your brother?s mind. He has been given that part of the mind to heal, not you. And God?s Voice is with him intimately in that process.? So I step back from my judgment of my brother and know that he does not need my correction; he has God?s help.
How do I get back to remembering who I really am; to know myself as God created me? First I recognize that the self I am experiencing now is not the perfect creation of God. Then, I decide that I must have been mistaken and ask for correction. At first it takes some practice to even recognize these mis-thoughts. After all, even in my mind I don?t turn to the one next to me and say ?You are different from me, and so I suspect you of being my enemy.? However, I may turn to the one next to me and think, ?That person is taking the chair I always sit in,? which is the first step toward guilt, hatred, war. Pandora?s Box has been opened.
Instead of being part of my One Self, this person with whom I came to join, is now my enemy, the person who took my favorite chair. I have made him guilty. I have made him my competitor, my enemy. Now we are at war; who can get to the favorite chair first becomes my objective rather than how can I love my brother and experience my unity with him. I talk about unconditional love, but my ?love? has a condition now; stay out of my chair!
Does this sound like a silly example? I read an article recently about a woman who killed her husband. They were going to watch television together and he took her chair, and wouldn?t give it back. She got their gun and shot him. Conditional love isn?t love. It is a bargain at best, and at its extreme it is war.
Perhaps you think that unvoiced thoughts don?t count. But they do count. We kid ourselves when we think we have private thoughts. Our thoughts are shared in a million little ways. If I think you are my enemy because you took my chair, you may not know what my problem is, but you will feel my withdrawal. You may not even be able to put your finger on what is wrong, but you will know, perhaps unconsciously, that something is not right.
We cannot think one way and act another. What we think is who we are, and while we have learned to put on a false face for civilities sake, the truth of our thoughts will show themselves in many ways. We move a few inches further away, our greeting lacks enthusiasm, our hug is half-hearted.
If we harbor our resentment long enough, our anger becomes more overt until it eventually becomes verbalized. It may come out as gossip rather than direct confrontation, and often we choose something unrelated to the original slight to actually verbalize, but it will show itself in some way. The slighted person feels the need to self defend, and the war escalates.
Even if we never saw the person again, if we harbor the resentment, that relationship is affected and we are affected. In truth we are one mind. How can my brother not be affected by what is in my thoughts. Hugh Prather, in an article on relationships, suggested sending silent messages of blessing to your partner. He said,“This practice is far more powerful than any spoken words could ever be… .” The same is true for unspoken words of separation. They are just as real as the spoken word, and have effects on the relationship.
The whole sordid mess could be avoided if I recognize the signs and act on them immediately. Someone takes my favorite chair and I feel a twinge of resentment. I see it for what it is, and ask the Holy Spirit to give me another way to think of this. The war is over before it begins. I remain in peace and am happy. I am also much closer to God now. So are you, because we are one creation and so what lifts me up lifts you as well.
The diversity of any group is not laudable because many different people come together to remain different, separated into our own little worlds by our perceived differences. It becomes a holy encounter as we gather for the purpose of shedding our differences and recognizing our oneness in God.
We do not reach the peace and joy that God means for us by ridding ourselves of people who don?t fit within the walls of our self made world, but rather by using these encounters for healing, and thus allowing those walls to come down. Our walls do not protect us; they imprison us in our separation. As we reinforce our separation from each other, we reinforce our feeling of separation from our Creator.
We have all built up thick walls of separation which we believe are protecting us from each other. It requires great faith and much work to learn a different way. But in our beliefs, we have set that as our intention. If we keep our eye on our goal it cannot fail, because it is in alignment with the Will of God.
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