Thankful We Are So Different.

I have been thinking alot about Thanksgiving this week... its origins, its impact on the nation that would later be conceived on these shores, what meaning it still holds today. This week I watched our president welcome the prime minister of India, I saw replayed in the news Adam Lambert's provocative kiss with his male keyboardist, and I was saved a thousand times over by the grace, experience and diversity of my own acquaintances, friends, and family.

I wonder at the first Thanksgiving, at how tentative and a bit scary sitting down with people so different from themselves must have felt for both the pilgrims and the Native Americans. Perhaps under the festive celebration of the harvest, each side even secretly hoped they could more conform the other to their own beliefs and ways of life. Perhaps with time at least some realized why everyone was better off if they didn't.

It would be so much easier if we were all the same, wouldn't it? If we all held the same beliefs, the same fears, the same guiding principles, the same flaws, the same strengths, the same thoughts. We wouldn't have much to talk about, but certainly there would be the peace and predictability that our lives generally lack as we open our minds (sometimes voluntarily, sometimes not) to ideas different, even more uncomfortable, than our own.

A friend told me a couple weeks ago that he often enjoys a drink with his neighbors, listening as they talk about the neighbors that aren't there. These people, I presume, are at the very least upper-middle class, yet I almost choked on the sudden realization that white trash can exist at every economic level. They are, in all likelihood, still good people who have simply fallen into the trap of judging and compartmentalizing anything existing outside their comfort zone.

We are often afraid of what we don't understand, aren't we? In our rushed, always-on-24/7/365 lives, we seek, often desperately, to quickly and cleverly summarize lives, beliefs and actions different from our own. We do this even when we haven't bothered to gather the knowledge necessary to understand anything other than what we see at the surface. We do this perhaps to gain a laugh from our friends, but to the detriment of our society.

My challenge this week to all of us is to take a step outside our "normal" realities. Take the time to get to know more about an idea or a person that makes you uncomfortable. When you find yourself reacting in anger or defensiveness to something someone is saying, ask yourself why? and then commit to listening harder. Seek to understand. See if you can find a way to appreciate a new perspective or enhance your life by looking through the eyes of another.

At worst, you'll find you were right to be uncomfortable (I mean, really, there are some pretty serious nut-jobs in the world), but--at best--you might find another reason to be grateful this Thanksgiving for the diverse nation we are fortunate to call home.

Comments

[Cindy W]

I am thankful for you, Julie!

[Juli]

*blush*

;-)

[Alex and Jane]

I had an impression of my neighbor that was proven completely wrong once my wife and I finally took the time to get to no him.

[Mary]

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1862503_1862505,00.html

[Stephanie Wright]

I was at thanksgiviing dinner and a freind of my uncles kept talking about black ppl--stereotype things. At first I laughed cause I figured he was surely being ironic then I realized I think he was serious and it wasn't funny. I didn't realize people are still so ignorant in our society. :(

[Greg K]

A related lesson from my kid's realm... "Don't be afraid of the unknown..." http://www.planet51.com/

[Casey D]

Aware of your propensity for lyrics and thought you might find this applicable:
"...I've seen a rich man beg
I've seen a good man sin
I've seen a tough man cry
I've seen a loser win
And a sad man grin
I heard an honest man lie
I've seen the good side of bad
And the down side of up
And everything between..."
;) Thx for the insight!

[Juli]

@Casey--Of course! Everlast! Love it!