A group of kids head out to the playground for a game of kick ball. The captains, usually two of the most popular kids, choose players for their team typically based on who they like. A family is gathered for a holiday celebration and after the meal, one group of people (the original family members) is seated at the table engaged in conversation and around the perimeter of the room are the in-laws…separated. Oddly enough, these two brief scenarios have something in common: who’s included and who’s not.
I’m not sure just when it happens during the course of our childhood socialization – what I call the discrimination factor – but at some point we do learn the concept of “us and them”. Taken to the extreme, as fairly recent history in our own country has taught us, this discrimination factor has produced judgments and segregation of people based on their ethnic origins that still have not completely dissipated. We are keenly aware of the tensions between people of different cultures, beliefs, even religious traditions. And if we listen closely to the language, at some point in life we will likely hear comments that include the words “those people” or “it’s us against them”. With healthy, playful competition we learn how to be gracious winners and not sore losers. But competition becomes unhealthy, even hurtful, when it serves as a means of deciding who is superior or worthy – who’s in and who’s out, who gets our attention and care and who does not.
Just because someone may not be at the “right” place at any given time as were Eldad and Midad (Numbers 11: 26) or the “right” station in life does not mean he or she is less blessed, less gifted in unique ways or even less of a person. I haven’t decided which, but I do muse whether our Sacred Creator is color blind or delights great variety when it comes to people. Maybe it’s both! What I do believe is that the Divine One lavishes each of us with unconditional love.
Perhaps one day all the lines of intolerance and prejudice in our world will be blurred and we will begin to see each other more clearly – as wonderfully made in the image of our Creator.
Peace on the Journey.
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