What better to adorn the Thanksgiving table than a cornucopia of squash, a crazy assortment of colors and shapes, of textures and tones? What better day to rejoice in assembling the crook-necked with the pear-shaped, the fluted with the warty? This kind of kinship isn’t always easy, but it is the way families or communities assemble, not by being the same, but by welcoming everyone to the table.
Who or what are you grateful to be welcoming in today?
“One of these things is not like the other,” they used to sing on Sesame Street, “one of these things just doesn’t belong.” The game was to guess what item didn’t fit as part of a set. But they sing the song differently now. The good folks of Sesame Street have figured out that being different from those around you doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t belong.
Is there anywhere in your life where you are obviously different from others in your “set,” yet you still feel that you belong?
One bad apple might spoil the bunch, but an apple of a different color never hurt anybody. Belonging to a group is not the same as being indistinguishable from those you associate with.
How will you support non-conformity today?
Every now and again you meet a person who just stands out, who just seems to rise above the crowd of the ordinary. Perhaps these people are gifted with a special kind of charisma. Or perhaps they have simply refused to let the world erode away their uniqueness.
How do you cherish, defend and display the things that make you unique?
