In the news lately, we have been advised that taking a brisk walk every day even for only 10 minutes, will keep us healthy. So this morning I decided to go for a short walk around the estate where I live. I don't know how often I'll do this, but at least it will be a start! After I'd finished doing some chores in the house and had put a load of washing in the washer, I went on my way.
I passed a garden with beautiful flowers, all colours, shapes and sizes making a wonderful display. Further along a passed a hedge trimmed very neatly and next to it a neighbouring hedge that was obviously well tended but one twig stuck out. It made me smile. Nonconformist! In just two gardens it seemed that I was being reminded of some great truths. The beautiful display was a combination of many different plants, different formations of flowers, different sizes and colours but together making the garden a very pleasant place. The hedge reminded me that even in creation, there are those things that don't always conform to what the majority are doing and that's ok. Variety is accepted and tolerated.
It reminded me of the time I with my two sons were visiting family in Argentina (in 1999) and we went to visit one niece/cousin who met us at the airport with her husband and two daughters (the third daughter was born a few years later). We went to a small cafe for something to eat and the youngest daughter Cata (Catalina) just couldn't sit still. Her father kept saying, 'Cata, sit down.', 'Cata, don't do that.' Eventually he asked, 'Cata, what do you want?' Immediately, without even thinking about it, she replied in her childhood innocence, 'I want to misbehave.' Well, we didn't know whether to laugh or look away and ignore the comment. Her father then explained that she couldn't misbehave here as other people wouldn't like it. Of course, I'm not advocating we misbehave but how often children in all innocence question why they must conform to what other people expect of them. She is now a lovely young lady who probably doesn't even remember that occasion.
Thank God, that He doesn't create clones! Creation shows us that variety and difference go to make life beautiful and that we are all individuals who contribute to the success of the whole. Even those who don't conform to what the majority want have a place and make life interesting, often bringing a different approach and way of seeing things. All parents will vouch for the fact that all their children are different, each special in their own way. It's when others don't always do things the way we like or insist on being just that bit different that we find it hard to accept. Patience! I'm working on it.
2 comments:
How true Mavis. And into a different focus on the same theme, it is also true that what is misbehaving in one culture is not misbehaving in another culture... and perhaps, as it is with cultures so it is with people. On the other hand, sometime is better to conform to the culture where we are living. Oh, for the wisdom to know the difference! . Cheers.
Yes, so true Tommy.
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