my young son asked me ‘why did God make us all different colours? why didn’t he just make us all the same? he made us all the same on the inside, so why did he make us all different on the outside? if we were all white then there wouldn’t be so many fights’. my heart softened and broke at my young son’s innocence and wisdom. how was i going to help him see? so i gave him a white canvas and i gave him a tube of white paint and told him to go and paint the best picture he could paint and bring it back. he came back with something that looked like this (see below) …

then i gave him another white canvas and a pile of different coloured tubes of paint and told him to go and paint the best picture he could paint using all the different colours and he came back with something that looked like this (see below) …

Nah …      just kidding … looked more like this …

they were both interesting paintings, both had texture and both were abstract and both were special (because my son had painted them). so we put them on the table, leaning up against the wall and next to each other. i took my son’s hand and we walked a bit of a distance and looked back and i asked my son, which picture stands out the most to you?which looks most interesting? which would you like to see hanging in a room the most? and he said the coloured one. when i asked him why, he said because he liked the colour. it was bright and it made him happy. i explained that God is sort of like that. he made us all different colours because he likes colour and difference. it makes him happy. i explained to my son that he was right. we are all the same on the inside. we all have hearts and lungs, we all have spirits. we all have needs and thoughts and feelings and gifts and abilities and limitations and we all want to love and be loved and understood. but God made us different because he wants us all to be unique. because to him we are all very special and priceless works of art. my son thought for a bit and said to me, well if God likes colour on people, shouldn’t we like it too? shouldn’t we also think it’s pretty special? with that he walked away and went to play. and i thought how sad that we just don’t understand, with the simplicity of a child, the beauty of diversity that God created.

how does God’s idea of diversity in shape and colour, intelligence, ability, strength, wealth, position, status, belief, nationality, profession and everything else we use to differentiate ourselves, sit with you? do you think it’s beautiful or do you hate anything that doesn’t look like you? which painting would you prefer to hang on your wall?