Red and Yellow, Black and White?

I haven't blogged in a long time.  It has been hard to find a voice or anything worth saying in the current sorrow, doubt, anger and weariness that seems to characterize my life at present. 

It has been a long time since I preached a sermon. 

It has been a long time since I felt anything stirring in my heart that needed sharing.  Right now, in the aftermath of the news about precious brothers and sisters being murdered while at prayer, I am longing to be standing behind a pulpit this Sunday.  So much is pounding in my heart that I want to share. 

But if I am truthful, I do not have the energy to attempt to be profound. 

Truthfully, I fear that this blog post will sound trite, but somehow I need to speak, and I am struggling to say something difficult, so please bear with me.

Something my close friends and family know about me is that I really like variety. Look closely at my belongings and you will see it in what I choose in clothing, in books, in music, in food, in flowers. 

When I'm eating Mexican food I don't pretend it is just the same as Thai food.  Both are delicious.  I don't pretend not to hear the differences between classical, jazz, rock or doo wop.  I like them all. Variety keeps life from being boring. My favorite bouquet is not a dozen roses.  Not a bunch of daises...etc.  My favorite flower is the daffodil, but my favorite arrangement is a mass of different shapes and colors.  I don't pretend not to see the differences between the rose, the lily, the carnation and the daffodil.  I enjoy the differences. 

Don't say you are "color blind" or something similar. We don't need to pretend we don't see racial and/or cultural differences.  But maybe, like mature people can do with food, flowers, music....we can celebrate variety and diversity in the human family instead of avoiding it or being frightened or threatened by it.  We can affirm that differences in skin color, accents, hair type, even names, are superficial, temporary and, at best, can add flavor and joy to life. 

Yes, I said it might sound trite.  But if we can start with a seemingly small thing--might it grow into something larger and stronger?

Remember the song some of us learned in our earliest days in church..."Red and yellow, black and white...they are precious in His sight...."  Such a trite little song.   

Might people be a sort of sacred bouquet?