Variety by Design

Today as I was returning home from my noon time walk with Mallie, I took a minute to look at all the flowers that we have in our yard.  And what struck me was the variety of type and the variety of color. 

Some people like to be much more uniform in their gardening.  They like to have one or two different types of flowering plants and arrange them in neat little rows and call it a day.  I am more the find a flower and plop it kind of gardener.  Each year I try something new but then I also pick some of my favorite standbys.  I look at it and say "that is good!"

It made me think of the verse in Genesis 1:31 "Then God looked over all He had made, and saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day." There is one little key word in that verse that I want to focus on today.  It is the word "all."

We live in troubled times. I have watched the news, I have read the posts, I have cried a few tears over the events of the past few days and really the events of the entirety of mankind. We live in such a broken world, filled with prejudice, hate, injustice. And I know that at times I have been guilty of all three.

The apostle Paul in his writing to the Romans said in chapter 12 verse 9 "Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them.  Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good." And so I challenged myself - do I really love others, others who are different than me?  Do I see the variety of God's human creation as beautiful and yet equal?  Do I choose variety or do I simply stick with sameness?  Do I see the inequities and work to facilitate change or do I hide behind the safety of my little garden?

May I seek to be planted in gardens of color, of diversity, of beauty.  All of humanity - made in the image of God.  None better than the other.  May my heart continue to be tender toward the plight of those who are disenfranchised with their way of life.  May I be willing to sacrifice for others just as Christ did for me.