Do we want to live in a monoculture? A friend recently surveyed his local food court and observed that without foods from immigrant cultures, the selection of dishes would be very restricted.
And sports writers are commenting on the increasing ethnic diversity of football (soccer) teams in the World Cup. Out of a squad of 26, one European country has as many as 22 men whose parents or they were born outside the country they represent. The same would be true of the UK team or Australia’s Socceroos, though perhaps not as high a proportion.
David Goldblatt, well-known sports commentator and sociologist, reports research showing that the greater the diversity, the further the team is likely to go towards winning the coveted trophy.
Teamwork within diversity, as well as supremely talented individuals, is essential in the beautiful game. And in life.
The Together Project
This blog sits on TheTogetherProject website. It was born out of our understanding that Holy Spirit diversity working together in partnership, is the New Testament model of leadership. Like in a body. So we began our advocating for men and women to serve together. That is, women should be part of the mix, bringing their diverse gifts to leadership.
But the value of embracing diversity and learning from each other is much wider than that. It involves diversity across culture and race as well as gender. People patiently listening to each other and exploring their different points of view. And within a common and passionate vision, each owning what is important to them and receiving feedback from very diverse others.
Marriages as well
The diversity partnership advantage applies to marriages as well. I remember one of my sons returning from a first visit to his girlfriend’s family and remarking how different their family was to ours. I responded that discovering she would bring another background to their future together was a good start. Building a good marriage requires embracing the other’s diverse background, tastes, and interests. And each committing to value and build the partnership together.
When my husband and I were celebrating our fiftieth wedding anniversary, we were often asked what made a happy marriage. We found it difficult to answer. Eventually we described our marriage as a “collaborative work of art”. This expression captures the unique creativity and mutual responsibility that is needed. Marriage does not come fully formed when we say “I do”. It takes partnership over the years. Having reached 50 years, we came to think of kindness and acceptance as the virtues that best expressed the love needed day in, day out, in the ups and downs of life.
And in communities
When I was a town planner, we worked hard to encourage built communities to embrace diversity. Not the whole range of human and housing diversity, of course, because negotiating a path through that challenge is energy sapping and seemingly impossible. Rather, we advocated that each community could embrace a little more diversity in the racial and socioeconomic environment than was an automatic choice. That they could successfully choose to live with people different from themselves and not in a uniform monocultural neighbourhood.
In those years, we lived in an American city and were involved through our church in advocating for the welfare of the neglected slum residents living around us in poverty. It was difficult for our church members to overcome their desire to flee to safer suburbs. Many were recent immigrants to the US, just starting to make a secure life for themselves with hard work and a focus on their families. Yet a few chose to widen their circle, make new friends, and actively engage with the diversity in their street.
The companionship of presence
Now I am in the later stages of my life, I see the growing importance of another form of partnership. When everything else is dropping away in retirement and increasing age, sharing with our life partner becomes even more central. Those who don’t have that partner need to work extra hard to connect with others or become increasingly lonely within the walls of their home.
Companionship, presence, is a key ingredient, even when memory or hearing is declining. Sharing household tasks with a partner is often hard for women who have successfully run the home on their own for many years. Yet it is a great setting to be both partner and companion.
On the other hand, I know of one husband, carer for his declining wife, who was trying to do everything for her on his own. A lifetime of competence made it hard for him to ask for help. Then one day someone pointed out to him that the cleaning, the feeding, the showering she needed, could perhaps be done by someone else. What uniquely he had to offer to his wife was the fruit of their lifetime together. An easy and meaningful conversation and physical presence that no one else could give her. Why not use the precious time they had left to focus on that? And have someone else do the physical and clinical care. That made all the difference.
Jennifer Turner
