Imagine a world where ice cream came in only one flavour.
Imagine a world where you opened a box of Crayola crayons and found 24 crayons, all the same colour.
Imagine a world where restaurants had a menu of one item only.
Imagine a world that allowed only one song to be played on the radio.
Imagine a world with only one hairstyle, one model of car, one brand of perfume.
It sounds like a very bleak world, indeed. I’m reminded of Henry Ford’s famous statement, “any customer can have a car painted any colour that they want so long as it is black”.
It would be difficult, if not impossible, for most of us to thrive in a world that limited choice and demanded uniformity. We love and appreciate diversity far too much for that. On the long weekend I was at the cottage and stopped at Kawartha Dairy for an ice cream cone on the way home. The woman behind the counter stood patiently with her pen poised over the order pad while I tried to soak in all the possibilities on the menu. After flipping back and forth between “Black Raspberry Thunder” and “Moon Mist” I detoured and settled on the rather benign but delicious “Bordeaux Cherry”.
If someone were to ask me to locate God, I don’t think I would point upwards, but rather, I would point outwards. This diverse and colourful world hints at a Creator that values variety. We live in a world where the sky is blue, the grass is green, the dirt is brown, the fields are yellow, and depending on how you like your mountaintops, they could be white or purple. And within this colourful creation, God formed everything that lives and breathes, every creature imaginable, and said, “you all have a place here, even you Platypus.”
I can’t help but think God would love the menu board at Kawartha Dairy. I wonder what flavour God would order. Is the safe bet Heavenly Hash?
We can’t imagine a world that would deny us access to any of its richness, colour and creativity. Diversity is something to celebrate and appreciate. In the tapestry of humanity, it is our differences that turn the mundane into a masterpiece. That’s why I’ll be marching this Saturday under the rainbow flag in the Pride March, to celebrate and give thanks for diversity and do my part in ensuring all have fair access to everything this amazing world has to offer.
