Celebrating diversity
Join with me in ...39 total reviews
Comment from K. Lang-Slattery
I like this story of how you became a world traveler and how your travels have helped you appreciate the diversity of both nature and humanity. The last few paragraphs get a bit "preachy." I would suggest trying to get your thought organized so you can articulate your message in fewer sentences and without the "we must" verbiage. Also, though I like your wording in the final paragraph, I'd wish we didn't have to wait for Heaven. By taking this essay into religious territory, you may lose some readers. Not everyone believes in Heaven. Why can't we hope for /work toward achieving these fine principles here on earth in this life?
I like this sentence in particular: "my pleasure and delight were never quenched, just aroused."
. First sentence is a bit long (almost a run-on). I'd suggest 2 sentences.
. "To me they were exciting and exotic." Is '''they" the books or the children? clarify, please.
. "It was a melting pot of humanity." Again, the meaning of "it" is unclear. I think you mean France.... is this correct?
. "The diversity of people, places, flora and fauna - more than one life-time was needed!" this seems a bit unmoored (not a full thought).... Maybe something like "In order to see all the diversity...." will help.
. the paragraph that starts "The children, now grown up, have never forgotten the diversity of their experiences in this vastly different culture" promises to tell us how your children have not forgotten their experiences in Saudi Arabia, yet it doesn't keep it's promise. I'd like examples of how they still are involved with people from other cultures. The rest of the information in the paragraph is very interesting, but may be better placed in the paragraph (Here was diversity indeed.) about the varied culture of Saudi Arabia.
reply by the author on 10-May-2022
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I like this story of how you became a world traveler and how your travels have helped you appreciate the diversity of both nature and humanity. The last few paragraphs get a bit "preachy." I would suggest trying to get your thought organized so you can articulate your message in fewer sentences and without the "we must" verbiage. Also, though I like your wording in the final paragraph, I'd wish we didn't have to wait for Heaven. By taking this essay into religious territory, you may lose some readers. Not everyone believes in Heaven. Why can't we hope for /work toward achieving these fine principles here on earth in this life?
I like this sentence in particular: "my pleasure and delight were never quenched, just aroused."
. First sentence is a bit long (almost a run-on). I'd suggest 2 sentences.
. "To me they were exciting and exotic." Is '''they" the books or the children? clarify, please.
. "It was a melting pot of humanity." Again, the meaning of "it" is unclear. I think you mean France.... is this correct?
. "The diversity of people, places, flora and fauna - more than one life-time was needed!" this seems a bit unmoored (not a full thought).... Maybe something like "In order to see all the diversity...." will help.
. the paragraph that starts "The children, now grown up, have never forgotten the diversity of their experiences in this vastly different culture" promises to tell us how your children have not forgotten their experiences in Saudi Arabia, yet it doesn't keep it's promise. I'd like examples of how they still are involved with people from other cultures. The rest of the information in the paragraph is very interesting, but may be better placed in the paragraph (Here was diversity indeed.) about the varied culture of Saudi Arabia.
Comment Written 10-May-2022
reply by the author on 10-May-2022
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Thank you. Excellent feedback, with good suggestions. This piece is actually for a contest in NSW, Australia where the best 100 stories are published in a book, so I am particularly pleased to get such feedback. I?ll attend to editing it today before I send it off. Thanks again. Appreciated.
Wendy
Comment from barbara.wilkey
I feel this paragraph speaks volumes:
We must learn to understand differences, whether they be in value systems, religion, politics, ways of dressing, foods, music, or any other mode of difference. I don't need to know or agree with the beliefs of others before I value them as individuals. It is not my role to judge; I have never walked in their shoes.
It's so true. I don't have to agree with you to accept you. So many people struggle with that. I am totally against abortion. I was asked once about how I felt about somebody who had had an abortion. I answered that's not my problem. That's between God and that person. It's not my job to judge. Thank you for sharing, especially in today's world. I wish every person could read this.
reply by the author on 10-May-2022
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I feel this paragraph speaks volumes:
We must learn to understand differences, whether they be in value systems, religion, politics, ways of dressing, foods, music, or any other mode of difference. I don't need to know or agree with the beliefs of others before I value them as individuals. It is not my role to judge; I have never walked in their shoes.
It's so true. I don't have to agree with you to accept you. So many people struggle with that. I am totally against abortion. I was asked once about how I felt about somebody who had had an abortion. I answered that's not my problem. That's between God and that person. It's not my job to judge. Thank you for sharing, especially in today's world. I wish every person could read this.
Comment Written 10-May-2022
reply by the author on 10-May-2022
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Thank you so much Barbara. I feel like that too. Our role as Christians is to love others with His love. He will deal with their sins the same way He dealt with ours. Jesus did not condemn or reject the woman with multiple husbands or the one caught in adultery. They changed when they met Him. Your words are insightful and caring. Thank you for understanding.
Wendy
Comment from Verna Cole Mitchell
Wendy, this was very interesting, and you wrote it very, very well. I could not help but contrast my life, generally happy, but with a very narrow world compared to yours. My dad was a preacher, and we moved to several places in Ohio, then Louisville, Kentucky, then South Carolina till I married, where I'd been in college in Indiana. my husband and I started married life in Indiana, moved to South Carolina, then Charlotte, NC, where we lived the longest. We are now in Winston Salem, NC, near both our children. I was never out of the United States till after I was 50, then traveling to Canada, Jamaica, Alaska, and Greece. My husband and I traveled extensively in the United States, mostly through the West. My experiences in diversity, most notably, were in my English classroom in public school and after I retired, in a private high school. I admire so much your spirit and your abilities, the one with which I'm most familiar-writing.
reply by the author on 10-May-2022
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Wendy, this was very interesting, and you wrote it very, very well. I could not help but contrast my life, generally happy, but with a very narrow world compared to yours. My dad was a preacher, and we moved to several places in Ohio, then Louisville, Kentucky, then South Carolina till I married, where I'd been in college in Indiana. my husband and I started married life in Indiana, moved to South Carolina, then Charlotte, NC, where we lived the longest. We are now in Winston Salem, NC, near both our children. I was never out of the United States till after I was 50, then traveling to Canada, Jamaica, Alaska, and Greece. My husband and I traveled extensively in the United States, mostly through the West. My experiences in diversity, most notably, were in my English classroom in public school and after I retired, in a private high school. I admire so much your spirit and your abilities, the one with which I'm most familiar-writing.
Comment Written 10-May-2022
reply by the author on 10-May-2022
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Thank you Verna for your lovely review. When I was a child I would have loved to be you, with a loving family following Jesus! He leads us and subtly changes us into the people we are by our experiences. Your background has made you the godly and Christ-like woman you are. Blessings. Thank you too for the amazing six stars. I feel honoured. Very appreciative.
Wendy
Comment from Paul McFarland
That was quite something. I think everybody would benefit from reading of your experiences. It should be published somewhere. It is odd how different people are regarding their desire to travel. I am a home body. I have traveled a little but am always anxious to get back home.
reply by the author on 10-May-2022
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That was quite something. I think everybody would benefit from reading of your experiences. It should be published somewhere. It is odd how different people are regarding their desire to travel. I am a home body. I have traveled a little but am always anxious to get back home.
Comment Written 10-May-2022
reply by the author on 10-May-2022
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Thank you Paul. Wonderful to receive six lovely stars from you. I am much more a home body now.
(I did actually write this for a contest on this topic, in NSW Australia and the best 100 will be published in a book.)
I still have some editing to do, but I have been pleased with reviewers? thoughts and support. Many thanks for validating it.
Wendy
Comment from Pantygynt
A most interesting article. You were so lucky to have so many diverse experiences at an early age. The have obviously resulted in the wisdom you now possess, epitomised in this sentence:
'I don't need to know or agree with the beliefs of others before I value them as individuals. It is not my role to judge; I have never walked in their shoes.'
reply by the author on 10-May-2022
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A most interesting article. You were so lucky to have so many diverse experiences at an early age. The have obviously resulted in the wisdom you now possess, epitomised in this sentence:
'I don't need to know or agree with the beliefs of others before I value them as individuals. It is not my role to judge; I have never walked in their shoes.'
Comment Written 10-May-2022
reply by the author on 10-May-2022
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Thanks so Jim! I appreciate your kind words! We are often too quick to exclude from our friendship circles those who have different ideas or opinions - or in fact those who are different in any way from ourselves.
Wendy
Comment from Wayne Fowler
Excellent theme/sentiment. And very well written.
Anything I might have added would have diminished the 'high road' that you held to.
Doing the right thing is different for different people, but not doing the right thing is always wrong.
Best wishes.
reply by the author on 10-May-2022
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Excellent theme/sentiment. And very well written.
Anything I might have added would have diminished the 'high road' that you held to.
Doing the right thing is different for different people, but not doing the right thing is always wrong.
Best wishes.
Comment Written 10-May-2022
reply by the author on 10-May-2022
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An interesting review and thought-provoking too. Was I holding to a high road? In what way? I?m curious. Thank you for reviewing. And thank you for the beautiful stars. Valued greatly.
Wendy
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Not everyone celebrates diversity, particularly in the highly politicaly charged U.S. where one faction refuses to allow truth to be taught in schools because it might make their children 'feel bad'. And where criticisms of policing practices brings out the 'crazies' with guns.
Bless you for taking the higher road. Sometimes it's difficult to 'come out from among 'em'.
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Ah so many cultural differences. Things are so different over there I need to be more aware of such issues. I probably won't get too many reviews then. I think Australia has a lot more tolerance for difference, and while churches and Christians are still free at this stage to say what they believe and stand for, there is acceptance on the whole of a wide range of beliefs. Thank you for explaining. And we don't have the gun culture (except of course for the law-breakers). In general we live in safety and peace. I have never even seen a gun up close!
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Wow! Even civilized Americans feel compelled to own a gun (guns), though not all, of course. And hunting as sport or family culture increases gun ownership. My family has hunted squirrel, rabbit, racoon, wild hogs. birds, and deer my whole life. There is decent/good hunting in nearly every state.
And then you have the armed crazy element. (Kyle Rittenhouse)
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Many of our farmers have guns and there are also registered shootings clubs but others are mainly the criminal element. Ordinary children for the most part don?t go hunting. I have noticed many stories in FS talk about the pleasures of shooting and hunting. We gave gun control laws (we had a massacre about twenty years ago, so laws changed. The vast majority of our population is in favour of this now and it certainly rings a sense of freedom. Humanity needs boundaries in order to have freedom. Sorry ? I went on a bit long.
Wendy
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Thanks for the info. It was good.
Comment from Whitewave
Yes, Wendy, I join with you in celebrating diversity. The different colors you have used in your text blend together to make one story just as the colors of all people blend together to make one family. Diversity is by Divine Creation. We are all different yet the same - each of us a fragment of the Source from which we came.
"You don't get harmony when everyone sings the same note" - George Couros.
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reply by the author on 10-May-2022
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Yes, Wendy, I join with you in celebrating diversity. The different colors you have used in your text blend together to make one story just as the colors of all people blend together to make one family. Diversity is by Divine Creation. We are all different yet the same - each of us a fragment of the Source from which we came.
"You don't get harmony when everyone sings the same note" - George Couros.
This rating does not count towards story rating or author rank.
The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.
Comment Written 10-May-2022
reply by the author on 10-May-2022
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What an excellent quote!! I must remember that one. In fact the whole review is thoughtful and well considered. Greatly appreciated.
Wendy
Comment from royowen
We should always concentrate on the value to God to the the individual, not the body piercings, tattoo, God will reject none, and nor should would, people need acceptance not judgement, this reveals the heart of God, well done, blessings Roy
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The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.
reply by the author on 10-May-2022
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We should always concentrate on the value to God to the the individual, not the body piercings, tattoo, God will reject none, and nor should would, people need acceptance not judgement, this reveals the heart of God, well done, blessings Roy
This rating does not count towards story rating or author rank.
The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.
Comment Written 10-May-2022
reply by the author on 10-May-2022
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Thank you Roy. What a lovely review, appreciated as always.
Wendy
Wendy
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Well done
Comment from LisaMay
Hear, hear, and Amen to all that! What a wealth of experiences you have been able to undertake and also to include your family in. I have travelled extensively myself and am awed, humbled, grateful, and uplifted by the extent of diversity to be celebrated.
These sentences stood out for me as beacons of harmonious attitude: 'I don't need to know others' belief systems or gender persuasions before I value them as individuals. It is not my role to judge; I have never walked in their shoes.'
and...
'We focus on differences to appreciate and celebrate them, surely, not to reject those who are different. Otherwise, how do we learn? How do we grow? A narrow viewpoint leads to tunnel-vision, boredom, judgmental attitudes and hypocrisy.'
It seems that Heaven is the only place with a level playing field.
reply by the author on 10-May-2022
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Hear, hear, and Amen to all that! What a wealth of experiences you have been able to undertake and also to include your family in. I have travelled extensively myself and am awed, humbled, grateful, and uplifted by the extent of diversity to be celebrated.
These sentences stood out for me as beacons of harmonious attitude: 'I don't need to know others' belief systems or gender persuasions before I value them as individuals. It is not my role to judge; I have never walked in their shoes.'
and...
'We focus on differences to appreciate and celebrate them, surely, not to reject those who are different. Otherwise, how do we learn? How do we grow? A narrow viewpoint leads to tunnel-vision, boredom, judgmental attitudes and hypocrisy.'
It seems that Heaven is the only place with a level playing field.
Comment Written 10-May-2022
reply by the author on 10-May-2022
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Thank you for your amazing review and six stars. I am so happy to have my writing validated in this way. This is actually prepared for entry into a different contest for Seniors in NSW. Just wanted to run it past this site first to see what readers thought. So I am feeling encouraged as I trust your judgment. Thanks again. Wendy