March 22nd, 2021: Celebrate God's Beauty in Our Differences

 


I took a friend a few weeks ago on a cultural discovery trip as we spent time in the Asian district in our city. She was having fun because she realized that there is a lot more happening in that area than she knew. We went to different grocery stores and a Vietnamese sub store.


My heart was saddened by the news of various racially motivated acts against Asians in the US. The displayed gestures and the languages, these attackers used, tell us that they have never have true experience with other cultural groups so that they can widen their awareness and adjust their views of others.


When we give ourselves the right to disregard the values and the worth of people who are simply different from us, we have failed to understand the true meaning of God's grace and beauty. Our differences should reveal the vastness of God's beauty, our diversity should be celebrated as God's creation, and our distinct cultures can be embraced as God's various expressions of meaning.


It is hard to understand these attackers. We now have so much access via the internet to get to learn about other people and cultures. We have ample opportunities to learn about their history, their values, and their ways of life. How have these folks been using the internet? How can ignorance exist in such a time like this? Maybe, when we decide not to learn, it is easy to hate and be defensive about who we are. They use it to propagate hatred instead.


My friend and I had a great time during our short trip to International Avenue. Maybe, learning to make friends with people who are different from us is fundamental to overcome bigotry. We don't have to look hard and go far to make that happen either.


Genesis 1: 26-27

"Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them."

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