Kaleidoscope
Looking into the tube I saw a burst of color and light. There were blues, reds, yellows, and greens. The colors
swirled and blended in patterns that changed and modified, blossomed with subtle changes until the entire pattern had changed.
A simple twist of the end of the kaleidoscope and
everything changes. New shades of purples, blues, greens, and so many other colors emerge. New shapes appear, rising, forming, and slowly changing as tiny pieces drop into place.
With every turn new delights for the eye occur--eye candy.
I set the kaleidoscope down I hear the pieces move. Unable to resist the constant change, I pick it up once more
and place it t o my eye. This time lifting it into the light colors and shapes burst into even more vibrant colors,
swirling, changing, and mixing with an infinite variety of shapes and colors. Each combination caused me to catch my breath with awe . . . and love.
Different kaleidoscopes show color and shape in a myriad of ways. Some colors swirl, some are like stained glass, or faces, or geometric shapes. Each one is different. Each pattern is unique. Each twist or turn brings a new feast for the eye.
Over the years I have collected kaleidoscopes I have found them made from the simplest paper tubes to handcrafted
works of art with stained glass, and mirrored moveable pieces. Once I found a simple wooden tube with a marble placed at the end that could be twisted to change the shape and exchanged with other marbles to change the colors. Each one is unique. Each is special in its own way. Each is cherished.
I often think that is how God sees humanity--a mosaic of shapes, sizes, colors--constantly changing, moving, flowing from form to form with colors ebbing and flowing. Each individual person forms a part of the human kaleidoscope.
Each person valued, admired . . . loved for his/her part of God's creation. Each person is part of the unending hues of
God's ethne . . . ethnic peoples . . . races . . . cultures . . . diversity . . . God's creation of humankind--God's kaleidoscope. Together, all cultures, all races, all
people, form the unending, infinite mind of God in human flesh.
Together, we create the image of God. Together--not with separations because of skin color or physical characteristics or even different ideologies--we express
God's love. Through God's perspective we can seek to recognize and embrace all of creation and live to include God's diversity and unending creation within our hearts.
God, your kaleidoscope brings me unending joy, surprise, and lessons. Help me to learn, to value, to seek out, and to love as you do. So be it. Amen.
This column is reprinted from the May 15, 2009 Statesman. Stewart was not able to have a column this week due to a family matter.
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