This question bothers me
Why did God create us uniquely? This question bothers me.Being unique clearly means we are not the same; we have different fingerprints, different vibrations in our voice, different smiles. Our experiences are unique to us. Our very DNA is ours and ours alone. We are all one of a kind.
So this is what bothers me.If we come into this world as unique, what is it that makes us put pressure on one another to be the same? We find "our" group then we insist that everybody in that group conform. I tried to write on this idea some months ago but I'm not sure whether I did very well.I honestly struggle with this question: What does it mean to be uniquely me?I am actually a stickler-for-the-rules kind of person. I am comfortable when I know the boundaries and I can very easily conform. But here's the thing. I don't want to be who others tell me to be.I want to be me. I want to look like me and I want you to look like you. I want young men to wear what they want to without feeling pressured to put on what is the latest in cool. I want older women to be comfortable being whoever it is they are without the need to look young in order to be taken seriously. I want the world to genuinely and happily celebrate the fact that each person is unique.No more mass market, factory-produced people but rather individuals.One-of-a-kind individuals.I like formal. I like formal clothes. I like good manners. I like to set my table and have formal meals along with great conversation. I love to discuss important stuff that requires that we think deeply. I want to be this person. I like this person that I am. Not because some television talk show host told me this is what everybody else is doing and because I want to fit in I am also doing it. I do it because that’s who I like to be.If you like to entertain guests while feeding them pizza right out of the box, I hope you invite me so that I can celebrate and enjoy who you are, your way.We really don’t have to do things the same way. Really we don’t. Yet we do. We conform to what others around us are doing. We “try to fit in” because we believe this is the right way to live. So we have boys who’s butts hang out of their too-big-for-them pants because they want to fit in. I desperately want to celebrate the ones who are brave enough to wear whatever they please, because it pleases them.Oh, how I love ponchos. Laugh if you must. I owned a poncho once - when I was a little girl. It was fashionable back then to wear a poncho and you could buy them in most stores in all sorts of delightful colors and fabrics. Mine was a black and red tartan with huge pom-poms. I fell in love with ponchos then. But now I am not brave enough to wear one because it is no longer fashionable and people will think I’m a weird ol’ lady.I dream of a day when we will have the courage to truly be the unique person God created us to be. I know I have written about clothes and pizza and conversations when I actually mean to write about the cause and not the symptoms. Acceptance, unconditional love and joy unthinkable and full of glory.I dream of a day when we will delight in one another’s multi-colored ponchos. Like God does.Question: Do you think I’m a little crazy to want each of us to be unique, or should we conform because we are social creatures?
