Why So Different?

My brother is an engineer.  I cannot figure out how to open my jammed stapler.  My sister is a math teacher.  Hearing the word calculus makes me feel like I might pass out.

How could we be so different?  We have the same genes and grew up in same home.  Simply put, that’s just how we came. 

Every person on the earth today lived with Heavenly Father before this life.  During that time, each one of us was blessed with unique characteristics, strengths, and aptitudes. 

As a little girl, I always imagined us lining up in front of Heavenly Father and waiting for Him to sprinkle a little bit of magic dust on our heads.  After the dust was sprinkled, we walked away with our personalities and talents.  That’s definitely a silly way to think of it.  I don’t really know how Heavenly Father made each of us so unique, but I rejoice in knowing that “God is the author of diversity” (Meet the Mormons).

Differences are beautiful.  If everyone was like me, we would all be in touch with our feelings but we would have no way to share them.  We likely wouldn’t have paper and most definitely would not have computers.  In fact, we would probably be living in huts with no electricity.

I am grateful for engineers who use their minds to develop technology that produces paper.  I’m looking at my bed right now and it makes me laugh because I see two journals, a notebook for scribbling down blog post ideas, and a few miscellaneous papers.  I am grateful for people who understand electricity and computers because they allow me to share some of my ideas.

I am grateful for people who understand politics, law, economics, medicine, and communications.  The list goes on.  My life and everyone else’s life is profoundly blessed by the combined strength that our individual differences create.

Even with our differences, there are two common threads that connect every single one of us.  (1) We are all children of Heavenly Father.  (2) We all desire to create.

Heavenly Father loves every one of us, and He loves all of us equally.  Ask any set of parents, and few would ever say that they love one more child more than the other.  They may love their children differently, but still equally.  Heavenly Father is the best parent.  His love is endless and equal for each of us.

We can follow Heavenly Father’s example by seeing every person around us as our equal.  We are, after all, spiritual brothers and sisters.

With regards to the desire to create, a leader in the LDS church explained that “the desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf).  Why would that be?  “Remember that you are spirit [children] of the most creative Being in the universe” (Uchdtdorf).  Because we are God’s children, we possess some of His desire to create.

We all create differently.  I create through words.  My mom creates through flowers.  Some people create through cooking.  Some people create through art.  Some people create through music.  Some people create through woodworking.  The list is infinite.  We all seek to create.

The next time we feel tempted to let ourselves feel divided because we approach creation in different ways, may we work to be more unified because of our common effort to create.  May we also remember, most importantly, our common identity as children of Heavenly Father.