Opposites

 

Sometimes my attention is captured by beauty. Sometimes it the unusual, or the warm or the striking. There are times when it is the contrast, the juxtaposition, of seemingly opposite objects in on place. So it is with this image of a cactus growing next to a birdbath. I have always associated a cactus with the hot, arid desert landscape. I have always associated a birdbath with water, filled continually to ensure that birds will come to play in the garden. Two things I had never seen together before.

Sometimes we can feel like we don’t fit in with others we spend time with on the job, in school, on trips or in life. We feel left out or kept on the edges of things. It is hard to feel we are someplace we don’t belong, even when we are where we want to be. It is not always easy to see how interesting and fun opposites can be, especially when we are the opposite.

The Church, at its best, is a place where the beauty of opposites shines like a light in the darkness. In Colossians, we read these words, “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.” The Good News is that we all belong, even all the opposites. Especially all the opposites. God loves the beauty of opposites. We should as well.

Peace.