We
always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers.
Our son loves Star Trek and often encourages us to watch the
show with him. One of those episodes has had a lasting effect on me.
The show’s title has long since escaped me, but not its message.
The setting was a planet where all the people were both black and white. It was as though
a line ran through the center of their faces, continuing down the middle of their bodies.
One side was black, the other white.
Coming from a culture with a history of racial biases, I thought this
must be a better solution. Everyone was the same; everyone was both black and white. But
no, the people on that planet did not get along! Some were black on the left side while
others were black on the right side. And what a difference that made – at least to
them.
Then, of course, the show’s true message came through.
Weren’t those people just looking for what made them different from one another and
turning that difference into a big issue? And then came a still deeper meaning:
aren’t we doing the same thing here on earth?
Our Heavenly Father has created us all. Certainly we are different. Our
skins come in a variety of colors. We speak many different languages. Our cultures differ
enormously. Yet we are brothers and sisters, all created by and loved by God.
That doesn’t make it easy for us to understand one another. Just
as we need to work at getting along with our siblings, so also do we need to make the same
effort to respect, appreciate, understand, and get along with our brothers and sisters in
Christ. Let’s ask God’s help to do this.
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for the beauty and diversity
of your creation. We thank you for your unconditional love. We thank you for allowing each
of us to be part of the community of Christ. Help us focus on the issues that unite us,
your children, as we work for the common good and pray for one another’s well-being.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Gwenn Djupedal
