#diversity

THANKFUL FOR DIVERSITY

 

May we be blessed to acknowledge all the wonders in our life

that have, for us, thus far accrued…

and to begin each day with a word of thanks…

and thoughts of gratitude. 

 

Today I’m thankful for our diversity

and I hope one day everyone will see

the one thing we all have in common

is

our diversity

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NO TWO ARE IDENTICAL

 

One thing that strikes you when you’re out in nature…

(that, once you know it helps you to proclaim,)

is how, of all the wonders you are seeing…no two are ever the same.

 

They may share similarities…but it’s part of nature’s mystique 

that everything she has created is individual and unique.

 

No two stars are identical…no two planets…

no two clouds that float upon the breeze… 

no two flowers,…no two rivers,…no two mountains…no two trees.

 

The fact that no two of anything are identical…

once our eyes have been taught to see

is why we relish in their individual beauty and their overall diversity.

 

No two waves upon the ocean are identical…

no two fish…no two mammals…and let us not forget

no two apples…no two oranges…no two sunrises…no two sunsets.

 

The more you walk in nature…the more gratitude and love you’re feeling

knowing that amazing diversity is what makes our world so beautiful…

and our nature so appealing.

 

What strikes you when you walk among the people…also a part of nature

that once you see it helps you to proclaim….

of all the people you are seeing…no two people are the same.

 

This fact, instead of dividing us, should unite us…once our eyes are taught to see

we should relish in each one’s beauty…and our world’s diversity.

 

If only we’d take the time to understand nature’s people

I believe more gratitude and love we would be feeling…

knowing it is our amazing uniqueness that makes us all so beautiful

and our nature so appealing.

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BIG AND DUMB

BIG AND DUMB

 

We called him big and dumb when he walked into our school.

What is it, I wonder, about us as children…that sometimes makes us cruel?

 

He was bigger than the rest of us…(this was many years ago)

but as far as his being dumb…well…we really didn’t know.

 

We just knew that he was bigger…he was different…that was all.

Perhaps it wasn’t that he was big…but that our minds were small.

 

Perhaps we were a little afraid…he was something we’d never seen

Why is it fear of someone different…can sometimes make us mean?

 

But once I got to know him…once I took the time to see

except for his enormous size…he was so much more like me.

 

He had courage and determination…he had his insecurities…

and just like me, I found out…he liked his hamburgers with cheese.

 

In time we became friends…and, as friendship often does,

we focused on what was important…and not how big he was…

 

And I was glad he walked into my school…glad our lives had overlapped…

What is it I wonder, about us, as children…that we so easily adapt.

 

Though we may hesitate at first…at something novel or unplanned

we easily accept it once we come to understand

 

that the world is such a beautiful and exciting place to be

and what makes this world so beautiful is its diversity.

 

So we hope we learn from mistakes we made…and leave behind once and for all

those times we acted out of ignorance…when our minds were much too small.

 

And we hope as we grow older…we look back where we came from…

 

and we remember lessons from our youth so we don’t grow up big and dumb.


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DIVERSITY

Every moment nature’s artistry is put out on display…

It’s one of the reasons we love the morning walk we take each day

 

But there’s an even better reason we amble through our streets

It’s all the places that we walk by…and all the people whom we meet…

 

For instance, on our walk this morning…we passed by all of these:

An Iris pub, a Scottish coffee house and a restaurant- Japanese.

 

An Italian cafe, a donut shop, a Hawaiian restaurant we adore

and a church with a sign that welcomes everybody…everybody through its doors.

 

We walked today with a good friend who’s stories always entertain

A beautiful soul who is quite proud of the Peruvian blood within her veins.

 

We waved to Harry-an old man we know who was in Germany grown.

His wife is no longer with him so now he walks alone.

 

For years we would pass him quietly…but conversed with him one day.

Now we often stop and talk with him…as he shuffles on his way.

 

After walking out onto the pier- about halfway through our walk

We met a vegan from Jamaica his hair flowing with dreadlocks.

 

And we spoke of dolphins and egrets and fishermen…and the beauty of the sea

of diets and Jamaica…and about our families.

 

The beauty of our walk is no matter which way we turn

From the different places and people we see…there’s so much we can learn.

 

There is strength in all our differences for what a sad country this would be

without our various accents, and foods, and stories…without our diversity.

 

Our morning walk proved once again as another day unfurled

how every person is a new door to a multifarious world.

 

And instead of building a wall to keep people out…like they once did in Berlin…

 

Perhaps we should be opening that door to welcome that world in.


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