Christian Living

---

It seems that nothing more nor less than a carbon copy will do. Anything beyond exists at its own peril. Originality, inventiveness, creativity and imagination die the death in this climate that condemns difference. Why is it so necessary to replicate each other? Are we that afraid of where individual thinking may lead us? Archie Bunker told "Edit" to "stifle" herself--and that's just what we do to ourselves and try to do to others. And what dies under the stifling climate of censure for daring to be different is part of our very selves--unless, of course, our difference finally pays off at the bank. In that case, all is forgiven and one may be as different as he wants to be. In fact, after one is rich, it is not only acceptable to be different--it makes for good reading material in the grocery store tabloids. It's not only tolerated but sort of expected and enjoyed as mildly amusing: the very same traits that were heartily condemned before riches came. The very characteristic of inventiveness that kept the person from being willing to work nine-to-five is A-OK when it pays off--depends entirely which side of money the difference is found.

The young lad who tinkers around putting things together, puttering and dreaming is lazy, shiftless and non-goal-oriented unless and until one of his experiments pays off, he gets a patent and makes a million. Abstract thinkers like Einstein (what are the chances we would have ever heard of him if he hadn't split the atom?), artist, writers, musicians, philosophers, all non-nine-to-fivers, are at peril in our society until their efforts are translated into bucks in the bank. We give lip service to the idea that it's not what a man has but who he is that counts, but our society's heart if far removed from that precept and denies it every day of American life. We have no idea how, nor intention to, value a person except in terms of how well he succeeds in this world--and that nearly always means how much money he has in the bank. We have carried the love of money to a destructive and threatening level, and all of its evils are rapidly coming home to roost.

Any teacher will tell you it is often the bright, creative, imaginative child that is disruptive, and more often than not, we do what we can to make him conform. We stifle him, if you will, and what is successfully and consistently stifled eventually dies. We have this insane desire to BE clones and to MAKE clones. To be sure, all ideal clones aim to be mannerly, well-dressed and keyed into the system to make money. Too often, though, all that is lost in that process is all that matters and makes life worth living.

We keep trying to fit people into molds, but the best and brightest keep asking, rightfully, "But who made the molds?" And we keep slapping them down until they get rich. Sharp minds and honest hearts often fit poorly into present day American society if that happens to be all they have. And if they are endowed with a sense of humor, they are inclined to laugh in the wrong places at the wrong things, and further prove their unmistakable difference.

We are carrying a load of blindness and dishonesty that will one day break our spiritual backs. We worship the unreal and unimportant and dismiss the true and lasting without a backward glance.

We need to know how to value a person's real worth other than on the scale of economic gain. Differencies in people, if allowed to flourish, just might produce more life-enhancing qualities than material success ever could. Nature herself allows differences even in sameness: snowflakes belong to the same genre, but each is wonderfully different. People share many characteristics, but oh how differently they are endowed by their Creator. Difference ought not to scare us. There is wonderful life excitement in diversity. Sameness may be safe, but it is both sterile and stifling.

And differences in people didn't bother Jesus when He was among us! He knew to look deeper. I think He still does and would have us do the same.

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE