DIFFERENCES MAKE A DIFFERENCE

There are, they say Red States and Blue States , but not everyone in a Red State is Red or everyone in a Blue State Blue. Not all Conservatives are as conservative as some Conservatives desire. Not all Liberals are as liberal as many Liberals would wish. Not all Episcopalians are on the same page on every issue. The bottom line, if we do not know this already from personal experience, is that no two people are exactly alike – not even identical twins.

   We are all different and those differences make a difference. Those differences are the reason why two people can look at the same issue and come to differing conclusions, can observe the same scene and see it differently, can want what is best for our country or our church and come up with quite differing agendas. Differences truly make a difference and make life truly interesting in every aspect of life and everywhere in life.

   Now we may not like it that way, especially if we do not get our way. But that’s the way it is. And if we want to blame anyone for all of this, there is only one whom we can blame: God. It’s God’s fault that we are all different. That’s the way God created us and that is obviously the way God intended it to be. What God also intended is that either in spite of our differences or because of those difference, we must learn to get along, whether we like it or not.

   We usually don’t like it. What we like, even what we want, is that others see as we see, think as we think, agree with us. Life would be better that way, or so we sometimes seem to think. We get upset and bent out of shape when we encounter someone who disagrees with us on issues that we hold quite dear. We yell and shout and call each other names and even stomp away in anger and frustration. In the process we have learned little and gained even less.

   I don’t know about you, but I am tired of the yelling and screaming and finger pointing. Civil discourse seems a luxury of the past. The airwaves – and pulpits, too – are filled with self-righteous people who become self-righteously indignant when someone dares to disagree with them, as if there is only one way and one answer to the issue or topic at hand. The church, sadly, is not exempt from such self-righteous pomposity either, for that is what it is: the belief that one has all the right answers.

   No one does because in some instances there are no right answers. The reason for that is that there are sometimes different answers based upon our differences. We don’t all think alike; thank our God who continues to make sure that we do not. If it were not for our differences, we would not grow. We would not learn. We would only stagnate. We might get along better because we would have nothing to talk about, but life would surely be dull and boring.

   As a society and, sadly, in the Anglican Communion, we need to tone down the rhetoric and listen, truly listen to one another. We need to be thankful that we are different and realize that our differences are truly a blessing, if only in disguise. We need to learn, once again, how to agree to disagree. We need to remember that God who creates no two people exactly alike expects us to live with our disagreements and differences, to live peacefully in love with and respect for one another. Is that too much to ask?                        WJP