There is nothing quite like a sea of tulips to bring a smile to one\u2019s face. It was Easter Sunday, and during a recent trip to the Franklin Park Conservatory, we were greeted by tulips in every conceivable color, planted by the hundreds in color-coordinated beds. In the center display, a large velvet red bed of tulips caught my eye. This particular bed stood in stunning contrast to the more subdued pastel varieties lining both sides of the aisle. Yet it was not the bold red that drew my eye, but the solitary yellow bud standing strong in the middle of the crimson field of flowers.<\/p>\n
John also had noticed this stranger among the red plants. \u201cMight be a mutation,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n
\u201cSimply beautiful,\u201d I replied, admiring this yellow bud that looked so tall and proud, so very different from the rest.<\/p>\n
Have you ever felt like you were dropped where you didn\u2019t belong?\u00a0 Perhaps you found yourself in a situation that made you uncomfortable. Perhaps you felt out of place or even unwanted.<\/p>\n
Society doesn\u2019t always honor the different, does it?\u00a0 Different is well\u2026different. Not like us. Not one of us. The pressure to conform tells us that different is bad. It is important to be part of the group. Just ask any teenager.<\/p>\n
Bullying is a problem in our schools. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (2016), 20.8% of students report being bullied each year. And relational pressures do not stop at the threshold of adulthood. How many decisions are made each day based, at least in part, on pressures from a significant group (such as church, a community organization, or work) or others (such as family or friends)?\u00a0 Are these pressures a subtle form of bullying?\u00a0 Debatable, but perceived pressure, makes it is more difficult to say \u201cno\u201d to expectations, even when the results are not in our best interests.<\/p>\n
Yet living in isolation is equally detrimental to the human heart and spirit. We know this not just from studies, but from the life verdicts of the lonely among us. Support from like-minded others is an important part of life\u2019s fabric. We need to belong.<\/p>\n
Meditation<\/p>\n
If love is as critical to life as food and water; perhaps that fact should be the barometer used to determine the value of different.<\/p>\n
Different is valuable when our unique gifts and talents are used to uplift us.<\/p>\n
Different is valuable when our unique ideas and attitudes inform our practices and move us towards positive change.<\/p>\n
Different is valuable when used to uphold the unique worth of all individuals.<\/p>\n
Different is valuable when celebrated as part of life\u2019s unique diversity and innate beauty.<\/p>\n
Different is simply \u201cunique\u201d in disguise.<\/p>\n
This week, I watched television as a seventy-year-old woman completed the Boston Marathon. While completing this grueling race is quite an accomplishment at any age, she also was the first woman to officially complete this event fifty years ago.\u00a0 She dared to challenge the status quo, dared to be different. On the day of the 2017 marathon, different meant challenging the stereotypical limits of age in a field mostly comprised of much younger competitors. Fifty years ago, different meant being female in a male-dominated event.<\/p>\n
Different benefits us all when assumptions are challenged and become the catalyst for thinking at a deeper level.<\/p>\n
Different benefits us all when oppression is lifted and the best of life is celebrated.<\/p>\n
Different benefits us all when blended together in unity to transform the world into a better place.<\/p>\n
The difference in different gives me hope.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There is nothing quite like a sea of tulips to bring a smile to one\u2019s face. It was Easter Sunday, and during a recent trip to the Franklin Park Conservatory, we were greeted by tulips in every conceivable color, planted by the hundreds in color-coordinated beds. In the center display, a large velvet red bed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[695,697],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-favorites","category-live-with-purpose"],"yoast_head":"\n