Value The Difference

It is true that things would not work if we were all the same.  The apostle Paul's image of the body, where we need the different parts, makes the point well.  I have been reading John O'Donohue's "Anam Cara".  The first chapter says some fascinating things about friendship and love and the depths it can reach.  We need people to whom we can get close, but it only works well if we also value our differences and allow sufficient space.  I know that I tend to emphasise unity, and I think I want to keep on doing so, but not to the extent that I can't recognise the value of difference and diversity.  We all have our part to play - and it will be different.  As O'Donohue says: "One of the most precious things you should always preserve in a friendship and in love is your own difference." He goes on to really encourage us to value space, citing Kahlil Gibran - "That which grows needs space.  Kahlil Gibran says: 'But let there be spaces in your togetherness, let the winds of the heavens dance between you.'  Space allows your Otherness to find its own rhythm and contour."