DIVERSITY (FEBRUARY 23)

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"The glory of creation is in its infinite diversity" (Gene Roddenberry).

IT’S HARD TO LOOK AT THE WORLD WE LIVE IN AND NOT BE INTRIGUED BY ITS INTRICACY. Rather than being one homogeneous substance throughout, it’s made up of billions and billions of separate entities. This world is not a vanilla pudding; it’s a tossed salad. And what a diverse salad it is! You could spend twenty-seven lifetimes studying the earth and not even list everything that’s here, much less describe how every “thing” is different from every “other thing.” If variety’s the spice of life, we’re surrounded by spice, aren’t we? And shouldn’t we be grateful? The diversity of our world is part of its strength and beauty, and meditating on that is a helpful exercise.

As individuals, most of us would be stronger if there was more diversity in our character. There is a sense, of course, in which simplicity is beautiful, and we’re not recommending that any of us try to become complicated, difficult, or hard to figure out. The point is just that variety can be a valuable thing, in ourselves just as in the world at large. Our characters will be better if they include various elements that reinforce one another and round us out.

One thing that can add diversity to our character is becoming interested in and respectful of people who differ from us in significant ways. As Charles Dickens has one of his characters say in Martin Chuzzlewit, “Them which is of other natures thinks different.” Conflicting opinions may make us uncomfortable, but we need not fear them. Our own thinking is strengthened, rather than weakened, when we view things from the perspective of people who stand at a different spot and see things from a different angle. This doesn’t mean that every viewpoint is equally helpful or accurate; it just means that our reasoning needs to be enriched and deepened by input from outside our present patterns of thought.

How many kinds of people can you enjoy working with? How varied are the situations in which you can function effectively? How diverse are your tastes? Your habits? Your ideas? If your answer is, “Not very,” you’re missing out on much of the world’s amazement. So, jump into the tingling waters of diversity and go for a swim!

The heavens rejoice in motion, why should I
Abjure my so much lov’d variety?
(John Donne)

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

LEADERSHIP (FEBRUARY 22)

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"He that would be a leader must be a bridge" (Welsh Proverb).

IT WOULD BE HARD TO THINK OF GEORGE WASHINGTON, BORN ON THIS DAY, WITHOUT THINKING OF LEADERSHIP. If it hadn’t been for his ability to blaze a trail, both literally and figuratively, our nation might easily have been lost trying to find its freedom. We wouldn’t have to stretch our imaginations much to believe that the availability of his leadership at that time was providential.

When history judges a person to have been a leader, that person is almost always someone who helped his contemporaries get through a time of change. And the more gut-wrenching the change, the more valuable were the services of the individual who led others through the transition. Great leaders don’t waste time wishing for more favorable circumstances in which to demonstrate their skills or display their wisdom; they recognize that if circumstances were entirely favorable, their services would scarcely be required. Hard work during hard times is what leadership is primarily about.

Unfortunately for our nation, we are quickly losing touch with the real-life facts of the Revolutionary War. Far removed from the bloody traumas of that period, comfortable in freedoms that have been the norm all our lives, and uninterested in reading history books or honoring heroes, we live as if things have always been the way they are now. We forget the horrifying chasm over which George Washington led us — from what once was to what now is.

However valuable his service to us was, George Washington was not primarily interested in being remembered as a famous individual. He would not have wanted our freedoms to depend on any continuing influence by him down through the years. Like all great leaders, he wanted those whom he led to be enabled and empowered. He might have wanted to be remembered kindly, but more than that, he would have wanted us to move ahead, no longer needing his active assistance. And so, on his birthday, let’s honor Washington wisely, acknowledging with gratitude the bridge he led us over. Then let’s see if we can’t find some chasms that our own friends and neighbors need help crossing.

"The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on" (Walter Lippmann).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

GLORY (FEBRUARY 21)

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"When I found I had crossed that line, I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There was such a glory over everything" (Harriet Tubman).

WE’VE ALL HAD THEM NOW AND THEN: THOSE EXPERIENCES IN WHICH EVERYTHING AROUND US CAME ALIVE AND SEEMED TO SHINE WITH A STRANGE AND WONDERFUL GLORY. Harriet Tubman, one of the great abolitionists of the Civil War period, described such an experience to her biographer, Sarah Bradford. When, in 1845, she first escaped from slavery and found herself in free territory, Tubman said she had to check to make sure she was the same person: “There was such a glory over everything.” She saw the world differently!

In its literal sense, the word “glory” has to do with “brightness” or “brilliance.” That which is glorious shines brightly. But we use the word figuratively to describe things that “shine” in that they possess “majestic beauty and splendor” (American Heritage Dictionary). Harriet Tubman experienced a joy that made everything around her seem more beautiful than she’d ever known it to be before. That kind of glory is more important than any amount of physical brightness.

It’s no coincidence that the sun, which shines with visible glory, figures prominently in many of the situations that we later describe as glorious. In particular, the rising of the sun at dawn is a thing that moves us. “Full many a glorious morning I have seen” (Shakespeare). “Oft when the white, still dawn / Lifted the skies and pushed the hills apart / I have felt it like a glory in my heart” (Edwin Markham). And, to be fair, the moon has its own glory. In the words of Tennyson, “Lo! the level lake / And the long glories of the winter moon.”

But whether it’s some shining, shimmering thing in nature that touches us with glory, or, as in Harriet Tubman’s case, it’s some unusual event or circumstance, glory is a good thing to get a deep taste of. And like it or not, how often we’re conscious of glory has more to do with us than with what happens to us. We’re surrounded by glory almost all the time, but some people are more receptive to it than others. Because of the openness of their heart and the eagerness of their outlook, glory is their frequent companion — and their receptiveness to glory is a virtue any of us can cultivate.

O, what their joy and their glory must be,
Those endless sabbaths the blessed ones see!
(Peter Abelard)

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com