The Tilted Halo

EP 52: The Strength in Our Differences

• Kathleen Panning

Share episode

Have you ever felt the urge to simply tune out all the negativity in the news and social media? You're not alone. Many of us retreat into comfortable bubbles with like-minded people, but what happens when we disconnect from different perspectives entirely?

The division we're experiencing isn't just political—it's seeping into our churches, neighborhoods, and families. When congregations split because people can't accommodate different viewpoints, we're witnessing the same troubling pattern: the insistence that everyone must think, speak, and believe exactly as we do. But as the Apostle Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 12, a body cannot function if it's all eyes or all ears. We need each part, each perspective, each voice.

This episode explores why diversity of thought strengthens rather than weakens us, drawing parallels between monoculture forests vulnerable to disease and communities that reject difference. When we push others out because they ask uncomfortable questions or hold different views, we diminish ourselves in the process. Like a meal without seasoning or a forest with only one type of tree, we become vulnerable and less resilient when we value sameness above all else.

The path forward isn't through uniformity but through unity-in-diversity, recognizing our fundamental interconnectedness despite our differences. Only by listening deeply to one another and respecting different choices can we create the resilient, vibrant communities we all desire. Subscribe to The Tilted Halo and join the conversation about finding strength in our differences.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Tilted Halo.

Speaker 1:

This is a new podcast and it's for anybody who's a woman in ministry. You might be a pastor like myself, a bishop, a priest, a rabbi, music minister, elder children's minister whatever your title is, you're absolutely in the right place, especially if you're someone who loves your ministry and you're doing it well and you're feeling pressure to sometimes be perfect, and deep down inside, you know you're not, and how in the world to deal with that? And, men, you're absolutely welcome here too, because this is about ministry and the same thing can happen to you. So you're all in the right place. Let's get started with the show. Welcome to another edition of the Tilted Halo.

Speaker 1:

It's been a while since I've recorded one of these podcasts, and it's not for lack of things to say. Sometimes it's so much is going on that it's becomes kind of tough to know how to put the pieces together and filter things and come up with a coherent message, and there's there's a couple of things that, um, I want to address. So this may be kind of a rambling episode. I don't know exactly where it's all going to go, but I've heard a number of people express that they are so upset with all of the negative stuff that's in the news and I've talked about the negativity before but all the negative stuff in the news and in the country, whichever side they are on with that that they are just kind of tuning it all out and not paying any attention to it. And there are some good things about that. Instead of becoming so wrapped up in all that's negative and not so good, to go about life and be there and do the things that we need to do on a day-to-day basis and not let the daily headlines become so overwhelming that we can't function. Nobody needs that. But on the other hand, without knowing what's happening out there in the rest of the world and staying just in our own little cocoon of a corner, we are not really being part of a broader community.

Speaker 1:

And that brings up some other issues and it kind of leads into a part of another part of where this all goes and how this all kind of shakes out. And that is that you know all of this stuff in the news, a lot of it's because there's a lot of divisiveness in our culture and in our country right now across the whole world. So it's not just the United States, the whole world, so it's not just the United States, but a lot of it becomes. You know, it's my way, I gotta have my way, I'm right. And the need to be right, the need to have one, you know our own way, our own understanding, our own outlook on life. Be the dominant one. You know our own way, our own understanding, our own outlook on life. Be the dominant one. Be the one that is not just heard but is in control. So a lot of it's about control and who's in control and what's in control.

Speaker 1:

And in the midst of that it's also infiltrating into churches the same type of feeling and the same need for control. And I've seen it play out in a couple of churches where it's been. It's not just pitting members against each other, it's actually torn congregations apart and caused a real, very definite split, so much so that people have gone off and started a new congregation, felt shut out, you know, left denominations, all of those kinds of things. And it's happening not just in one denomination but in many, in a number of different Christian churches and denominations, a number of different Christian churches and denominations. And I get very sad about that, to see that kind of reaction, that kind of way of dealing with life, dealing with issues. That it's got to be. My understanding is right and therefore it has to be the way everybody else thinks and we have to do it that way. And yes, that's always been there amongst people A desire to be in control, have our way, be the one that you know takes precedence. But on the other hand, as I read scripture, that's not how we, as Christians, are called to behave and the Apostle Paul in his first letter to the church in Corinth. They were having a lot of issues and struggles, and so you know that's a very good book to talk about some of the issues and struggles of today.

Speaker 1:

But one of the images that he uses in that book, in his first letter to the Corinthians in the 12th chapter, is one that many people have heard about. It's the idea of our bodies and that we are not just one, you know, one member. We need all of us. We need all of the different parts of our bodies to be able to function and to do things well. And you know he talks about the eyes, saying because I'm not an ear that means I'm not part of the body or the ear saying because I'm not a hand. I don't remember if that's exactly the analogy he was using. But it's that idea that one part of the body would say that, because it's not another part, that therefore they're not a legitimate part of the body or even a part of the body at all. And he also goes on to say that you know, if the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? Or if the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? And if we were all a hand, where would the feet be? It just um, it's just an important analogy. Um, and no analogy is perfect, but it's an important analogy to remind us that none of us is independent of the others. We are all connected.

Speaker 1:

And towards the end of that section in chapter 12, where he's talking about this, as one body says, when one suffers, we all suffer. When one is, uh, rejoices, everybody rejoices. But we haven't seen it that way. We haven't understood our own role sometimes in the suffering of others and the impact that really does have on ourselves. And you know, thinking about some of the things that are happening in the government and the drive to make it more efficient, which everybody would like, and to cut out excessive spending. Nobody's against that, it's how it's being done and what's being caught. That is always the question in things. But the idea that you know we can just cut out this program or that program and lay off this person or that group of people and it's not going to have any fat, that's not true. And what effects all of this is going to have on the rest of us is yet to be seen. And on our country and our security, that's all yet to be seen. And you know, I don't know what's going to happen. Some of it, I'm sure, is going to be very good, some of it, I'm not so sure.

Speaker 1:

About to be honest with you and to think that we can do these things, things and say things these days and that it's not going to affect other people, we need to stop. We really do need to stop and take stock of what we're pushing for, and that means pushing against and who we're pushing out in the process. Yes, it's nice to have other people agree with us, to be in like company and, you know, cozy up with the people who agree with everything we're doing and saying and thinking. Yeah, it is, but it's like a meal without any seasonings. It's like, you know, a forest with only one kind of tree. Yeah, you know, you can eat a meal without any seasonings. You can have forests around where I live, there are places that raise certain kinds of pine trees to farm them and then harvest them and things, and so there are acres of pine trees that are being grown, acres of pine trees that are being grown, and you know, that's great for a crop but not for a world. There's a parable.

Speaker 1:

I've shared a true story, actually I've shared about about what happens when everything's the same and the exposure that brings to diseases and illnesses and total crop loss if it's a crop, but also the weakness that brings into society when we only think one way, we only have one point of view that's accepted and allowed. That's one of the beauties of this country is that we have had all these years of freedom of the press, a good public education system where people can think and have conversations, even debates about a variety of issues and different points of view brought in, so that together we have crafted you know, it's not perfect, nobody's saying this country is perfect but we have crafted a very strong and good place to be one that has been the envy of people all around the world and that is in danger, as well as our own faith communities in danger, when we push others out to say, no, you can't raise these questions. No, that's bad, that's wrong to even say that, to think that, to be that way. You know, one of the joys I've had is in being able to have had the opportunity to do some traveling outside of the United States, and to more than one continent. I have been to Australia, I've been to Europe and I have been in the Middle East and I have been in Asia and each place, well, I've delighted to come back to the United States to live and I've always thought you know, it's great to go and visit and I'm glad to come home. You know, it's great to go and visit and I'm glad to come home, very glad to come home.

Speaker 1:

But I have grown by experiencing different languages, different cultures, different points of view, a more I know diverse is a bad word these days but a more inclusive person and more understanding of other people, and we're in danger of losing that. We're in danger of trying to make the whole body. You know an arm or a leg, you know right or left, it doesn't matter which one, it doesn't work to have. You know, yes, our human bodies can function with only one leg. We have crutches, we have artificial limbs, we have wonderful things to help people who have the misfortune, for whatever reason, of losing a limb. We have wonderful ways to help them be able to continue to live good, functional lives, to be that way in our thinking and in what we see as acceptable as far as making everybody like us, everybody, have to think the way we think and do things the way we do and, you know, find life to be about the same things we find life to be about. We're going to be a lesser person, a lesser faith community, a lesser country in the long run, and we're all going to suffer, suffer from a blindness, suffer from a lack of a dexterity to be able to think and move and act in this world.

Speaker 1:

And I've wondered sometimes you know why this is happening. What's the root cause of all of this? And I sometimes think maybe it had something to do with the pandemic and everybody being forced into a oneness that we didn't want, with things shut down and wearing masks and things like that, for our own good and for the good of the broader community. And now there's a rebellion against that, but there's a rebellion in saying well, you made me do it your way, now I't need to be like that.

Speaker 1:

We need each other. We need the hands, the feet, the eyes, the ears, the sense of smell, the wholeness of our country, wholeness of our congregations, wholeness of different ideas and ways of approaching life, ways of approaching faith that all of that brings. It doesn't mean everything's okay, no. It doesn't mean we don't need laws, that we can just kind of get along with each other and anything goes. No, we know that there are limits to things and that's why we have laws, but laws and policies and procedures and all of those kinds of things. But it's we still need each other and all of the differences that are there to bring. If it's a meal, it's to bring out those wonderful flavors and aromas and tastes and and all that goes with a truly delicious meal and a banquet, a great buffet of great variety, where we get to pick and choose. But others get to pick and choose too and they may choose differently than we do, and that's okay.

Speaker 1:

So this is kind of my rambling statement about our need for each other, our need for tolerance Again, that's not a very popular word these days A need for the diversity. There are people who say no diversity, but we need that. We need that. We need each other, with all of our similarities and our differences. That's when we're the strongest, that's when we have, you know, the best possibilities for ourselves, for our families, for our faith communities, for our country, for our faith communities for our country. So we are one body, as the Apostle Paul says, whether it's in a church, some other faith group, a community, you know, neighborhood, community, state, country, even the whole world, we are one body and what affects one affects all of us and we need to be careful lest, in spiting our you know, cutting off our nose, we spite our face, or however that saying goes. Be careful and learn to talk to one another and listen. Listen to each other, listen to the depths of what's wanted and needed not always to the words themselves and find ways to come together, even amongst our differences, to celebrate, to enjoy and to grow stronger together. So peace, blessings, gratitude to you for being here today and enjoy a beautiful, beautiful day Until next time. Bye-bye.

Speaker 1:

You have been listening to Tilted Halo with me, kathleen Panning. What did you think about this episode? I'd really like to hear from you Leave me some comments. Be sure to like, subscribe and share this episode and catch another upcoming episode. For more conversation on ministry life, mindset and a whole lot more, go to wwwtiltedhalohelpcom, where I've got a resource guide and other resources waiting for you, and be sure to say hi to me, kathleen Panning, on LinkedIn. See you on the next episode.