Strength from Our Differences – May 20, 2001
Looking at others, we can easily distinguish how each person is unique. Beyond our physical differences, no two members of the human family view the world in exactly the same way. Humanity’s colorful spectrum of cultures, skin tones, and philosophies leads us to decide whether our differences will divide us, or whether mankind’s miraculous diversity will teach and strengthen us all.
Tragedies such as discrimination, gang violence, school shootings, and genocide stem from roots of prejudice and intolerance. There will always be differences, from which we can form isolating walls or build bridges of understanding.
Facing the most divisive issue ever to confront his country, in 1861 Abraham Lincoln asked Americans to let their actions be guided by “the better angels of [their] nature,”1 knowing that such angels judge others by their capacity, not by their color; by their actions, not by their ancestry.” Lincoln’s words of 1865 remain true today: “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, . . . [we can establish] a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”2
God has created magnificent diversity among His children. When we create unity and strength from our differences instead of malice and fear, we begin to glimpse the grand design of Him who has woven the tapestry of humanity from threads of many lengths and colors.
When we respect our differences, they can make us stronger as families, as communities, and as nations.
Program #3744
1. “Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address,” Abraham Lincoln’s Speeches: Complete, ed. J. B. McClure (Chicago: Rhodes and McClure Publishing Co.), 394.
2. “Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address,” Abraham Lincoln’s Speeches, 449-50.