Diversity: Beauty, Splendor, and Challenges
As I take my regular walks on a college campus, I can’t help but reflect on the splendor of diversity that surrounds me: varieties of plant species and trees; honey locusts, oaks, and maples, birds of all sorts, chipmunks, rabbits, brown and black squirrels, and one groundhog with a voracious appetite. And in the midst of it all, I see the wonder and beauty of creation in the rich diversity of colors, shapes, looks, languages, backgrounds, thoughts, ideas, and cultures of people like you and me.
For years, America has welcomed immigrants from various cultures, colors and ethnicities. And with the steady influx of immigrants, the nation is increasingly becoming diverse paving the way for new and exciting challenges.
Friend, as a naturalized, proud to be an American citizen with diverse multi ethnic, multicultural, and multilingual background here’s what my parents, and my own personal life journey taught me about diversity:
There is amazing beauty, uniqueness, and wonder found in the miraculous diversity of the universe, and in our planet earth’s created things; plants, sea creatures, animals, and wonderfully made mortals like us. We’re all special, valuable and uniquely created with different fingerprints, looks, colors, shapes, talents, and personalities.
Never lose the wonder.
There is wisdom when diversity, including those of thoughts and opinions, are respected and not squashed. It is unhealthy pride and lack of caring that drive someone to belittle and disrespect others’ opinions, or to consider his or her own race, culture, heritage, ethnicity as superior to theirs.
Pride despises diversity.
In a diverse America, our various backgrounds, cultures, views, ideas, and experiences must work for ours and society’s common good. Diversity, when encountered by love in your heart and mine, will enrich and bless our personal lives and unite our country.
Love accepts diversity.
Adel G. Hanna, M.D.