Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Not really a travelogue

One time, Pat and I took our two-week vacation in the state of Utah.  We went to Arches National Park. 

Then we went to Bryce Canyon and Zion.

We also drove through National Forest land.

And we ended up at one of my favorite places in the world, the Grand Canyon.

Almost every day, I would look out the window of the car and demand, "What state are we in now?!?"  And it was always Utah.  And we didn't even get up to the Great Salt Lake and Salt Lake City.


What an amazing state.  And I could do the same thing for our nation, couldn't I, from the mountains to the prairies to the oceans white with foam.  We are blessed with such a wealth of splendid diversity.

So why can't we appreciate the diversity of our fellow citizens as much as we appreciate the diversity of our landscapes?  How splendid that we have neighbors -- whether literally next door or across the country -- from so many different cultural backgrounds, of such a palette of skin colors, with interests varying from NASCAR to NASA.  Wouldn't it be boring if everybody were the same?

Diversity is a resource and a blessing.  We need to come around to a new appreciation of community.  Try not to think of people who don't look like us as a threat.  Try not to think of people with different lifestyles as inferior or wrong.  In a community where people value each other, nobody is shooting at anybody.  Hate crimes are not making life bitter.  People with power are not abusing people sexually or any other way.

It just breaks my heart how little genuine community there is in our splendid country.  And it thrills me when I read stories of incidents that demonstrate the community we could have if we decided to do it.  Please.  You know the song:  Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me?  Let there be community on earth, especially in the good old USA.  And let it begin with each one of us.

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