dailydatewithgod

There is a lot of conversation going on these days about diversity and inclusion.  Understandably many people’s eyes have been opened to the potential downside of only including those whom we are most like in all spectrums of life. It is a natural tendency to create a sense of belonging.  In some cases, it is taken to the extreme, and vital perspectives are left out of the conversation.  Having an awareness of our level of diverse inclusion is part of what it means to be mindful.  God invites us to look at our internal level of inclusion.  Invariably we will find a correlation to what we are experiencing outside of ourselves.  Most of us have gotten into the habit, in some cases socially acceptable or expected habit of only shining a light on our good sides.  We look at what people are showing on their outsides and think we know all of who they are.  We hope they do the same with us.  The downside to only including in our display the acceptable or societally valued part is we deprive others and ourselves of the opportunity to include the gift in the mess.  We grow and thrive as we use the idea of inclusion to allow for all the facets of what it means to be us.  It means taking a look at what we think we do not want to see or know about ourselves.  It means using the courage of our hearts to embrace the inclusion of all of what we have experienced and done in our lives so we can represent the fullest expression of ourselves.  If we cannot have a policy of inclusion that makes room for the diverse nature of the whole of who we are, how can we expect others to want to practice diversity and inclusion on a group level?  Our hearts practice inclusion when it comes to distributing oxygen and blood to all of our cells. If a part of our body is not included in the distribution and energy of our body it will malfunction or break down.  Inclusion is the method by which our hearts can teach us how to hold the space of acceptance for all the diverse parts of ourselves, even the ones we want to keep hidden in the dark.  If we learn to practice inclusion on this level, we develop the eyes through which to see the value of inclusion on a societal level.