Trinity Sunday: May 30/31, 2026

I saw a cartoon once that showed a group of teens leaving their high school in the afternoon. They were all, more or less,  dressed identically, same baggy and torn jeans.  Same t-shirts.  Same baseball caps, some turned backwards.  Same brand of tennis shoes. . . One of them says to the group:  “I heard we’re gonna have to wear uniforms next year.” Another complains:  “That’s not fair!  I don’t wanna have to dress like everyone else.”

Many of us have a peculiar relationship with the concept of DIVERSITY.  Due mostly, I think, because it has been politicized. Because when I pulled out my trusted Roget’s College Thesaurus, newly revised and expanded back in 1978, when I was IN college,  synonyms, or words which mean the same as diversity include:  difference / dissimilarity / variation / and variety, with the antonym or opposite meaning listed as :  conformity.

What’s so scary about those words – difference, variation, variety –  which we probably use more often than diversity??

In one way, we are all for diversity, “I want to do my own thing” we think or say.  “I have to express my individuality.”  OR “I do things differently than you and that’s okay.”  Or say something as simple as:  I enjoy a different variety of apple than you do!!  But in another way, we distrust it:  “Diversity will destroy community.  We have to do things alike to get along together.”  OR “In unity is our strength!”

Those teens in the cartoon wanted diversity in dress, That’s not fair!  I don’t wanna have to dress like everyone else.  And yet, in reality, they were already all dressed alike.

Sometimes we do something similar.  We say we are all for diversity,  yet we squelch any sign of it in ourselves and certainly in others. 

Why can we be so intolerant of diversity??  For one thing, we may be afraid- although Jesus tells us many times NOT to be afraid!  Being human, we all have our fears.  We are afraid of germs, wasps, snakes, strangers, heights, new ideas, the future, God, and even ourselves.

And these innate fears cause us to do some strange things, for example, to curb diversity.  We reason, the more diversity there is, the less we will know and understand. And the less we know and understand, the less control we will have over our lives.  And not having control is a scary thing!  And so we curb diversity in small ways.  We demand, or at least want, everyone to act in the same way.  We can say or think things like:  “we should all dress alike. . . we should all pray alike. . . we should all hold the same values. . . and practice the same devotions.”  People who are intolerant of diversity assume, mistakenly, that there is really only one right way of doing things, one right way of being in this world.  And that is, of course, OUR WAY.

But diversity is not a threat.  It is a gift.  In fact it is one of the outstanding characteristics of God’s creation.  All we have to do is look at the world of plants and animals . . .: When God thought “flower”, God did not think merely of daisies or roses.  God also thought:  lily, violet, geranium, orchid, daffodil, iris, hyacinth, aster, azalea, and so on.  Likewise, when God conceived “animal”, God did not stop with just dogs and cats - but continued with horse, goat, whale, camel, parrot, rabbit, cobra, elephant, giraffe, and hedgehog.  And when God thought “people” God did not stop with Adam and Eve – but continued on with Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Moses, Ruth, David, Mary, Joseph – all the way down the family tree to you and me—  and all the way down the color palette:  black, white, brown, yellow, and red.

As we heard St. Paul tell us last week on the feast of Pentecost:  there are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit.  There are different forms of service but the same Lord.  There are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.”  St. Paul sees the diversity among Christians as a reflection of the diversity among the Persons of the Holy Trinity.

In the passage quoted:  the Spirit is of course the Holy Spirit.  The Lord is Jesus Christ.  And God is the Father of creation.  God is diversity!  The three persons are unique from each other. And we who have been made in God’s image, share in God’s diverse nature.   And diversity, like all of God’s creation, is GOOD!

Jesuit spiritual writer, Father Anthony de Mello, tells this story: When God created the world, God smiled and said, “This is very good.” But the devil also looked upon what God had made, and he smiled too, and said: “That is very good.”  But then added:  “Now let’s organize it.”  And we have been fighting ever since!

So as we celebrate our diverse God today:  three persons but one God, we should take some time to reflect on questions like: How welcoming are we of diversity when we encounter it, especially in other people? Do we see diversity as delightful or lamentable? Do we fear and resent what is different or unfamiliar, or do we see it as fascinating and challenging?

Holy Trinity:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The God of diversity:   help us to appreciate and delight in what is different and unfamiliar.  And be in awe of your diverse creation.  AMEN!