Layers of Love

People are similar to onions. We all have many layers and there is not one simple trait or characteristic that will be the determining factor as to who or what I am. When we peel back the first layer you will find the physicality that attracts us all. It may be our shape, height, hair or eye color that draws people to us. But we must realize that this is a temporary fixation, eventually there must be more. For us to decide that what we see… is all that matters would be a sad truth. After all how can a physical feature tell you what kind of person I am? There is nothing about my eye color that will give you information about what kind of intelligence or spirit that I have. I didn’t stand in the line for eyes and request a specific color. It was chosen for me, at birth. Now on the opposite side of the spectrum, every week I can go to the pharmacy and choose from hundreds of boxes of dye which will alter the color of my hair; just as I can readily change my eye color. These changes however do not change that which I really am. It just makes me feel more appealing to myself or others; nothing about any of these parts of me will give you any insight as to me, as a person. If you are caught up in the curve of my spine or the way light shines on my face…you will be missing out on the many facets of me.  The contents of my heart and depths of my soul have been growing and evolving since the day of my birth…this is where my Creator lives; and therefore is the most important part of me. Unless you are willing to peel back the layers of what makes me…me. The essence of who I am may very well get lost. How many people do we over look, daily…simply because they do not have the “look” we are comfortable with? We will glance at them and decide, based on some ill advised judgment that they are not for us. What a shame it would be to miss out on the experience of another because we have narrowed our perceptions of people based on what we have grown accustomed to. Some of the greatest messages ever conveyed have come from the most unlikely sources. How disappointing it would be to not be aware when your message is coming to you. A specific hair color and tone of skin does not define the contents of our hearts and when we believe that it does…we become the losers in the scenario. The experiences of others can be like road maps for us. They can relay the traumas of their lives and we can learn from them so that we may never have to know the pain first hand. Who is to say what venue will be used to relay the message of God to us?
  Does the home I live in tell you who I am? It may tell you something about my income bracket or about my taste in décor…but is that all you want to know? There is some information that you can get from my home…such as my social preferences; rural locales over urban neighborhoods, mountains as opposed to the ocean, a gated community over a cabin in the woods, a bus line over a skyline. You may see what brings me peace or what is important in my life…for example I may prefer the sight of basketball courts over the sight of horses grazing in a grassy field. You may be able to tell if I have an eye or wallet for high end architecture…or maybe you can just tell what was important to me at the time that I moved in. I, however, will go out on a limb and tell you that all you learned…was my address. And what if my address was a homeless shelter or a park bench? What would you know about who I really am by that discovery? Perhaps if all you were searching for was information to use to degrade me or demean me…you will leave satisfied; but even that is only a portion of a story and if you are content with that…maybe you weren’t ready to know me anyway.
  If you had knowledge of my religious affiliation does that tell you who I am; I can understand how you may think that it might…but I will gladly show you how that is not enough information. It is never enough to know how or even if someone prays or worships because we have preconceived notions and ideas about religious or spiritual people. For instance, if I tell you that I am Jewish and on Tuesdays…I only eat pancakes…you may think that ALL Jewish people only pancakes on Tuesdays, but is that true? Of course it isn’t. But we tend to think that all groups of people are exactly the same. But all Christians aren’t the same, some are more devout than others and some don’t even believe the same…this is true of most people and most religions and philosophies.
  We are not the same and while we use our differences to separate us…it is how we were created so it is also makes us the same. We are as alike and dissimilar as snowflakes. Snowflakes are the same…they are, after all, snow. But snowflakes, when closely examined are completely different from one another. Do the differences of snowflakes separate them? Do we not still make snowballs and fall to the earth making snow angels with those very different snowflakes? So with that example we can say that even though they are different…they serve the same purpose. We are exactly like snowflakes. God made us with the same elements…love and peace; and while we have similarities…bones, blood, and skin, we are still different. Does that make one better than the other? Of course not, the only difference is that snowflakes do not spend their existence pointing out the “faults” in other snowflakes…and we do.
  Do yourself a favor…the next time you are tempted to point out how different someone is from you…or you them…count your similarities too. We all have our own journeys to take and the one constant of truth in that statement is that our path will forever be illuminated by God.