A Locked Gate: Five Inspirational Verses on Embracing Difference

By Michelle Liew Tsui-Lin

When the National Library Board in Singapore removed titles from its list of children's books because of controversial content, it caused some ire.

Some parents arranged a reading session where they released the offending books. Many supported them and as many did not.

The group that celebrated diverse views was not wrong, nor was the one that chose to protect itself from it.

Both groups, however, need to mutually acknowledge and respect their different stances. Each has biases it should not force on others.

The prejudice or bias of others, for any reason, is a bane that we have all experienced.

It is a locked door that prevents us from experiencing the beauty and goodness of Difference.

Getting others to accept what they are not used to is a painstaking process. It is difficult to affirm anything out of our personal norms.

Yet, while this is an ideal, recognizing another perspective is beneficial and at times essential.

Not doing so closes our minds to others, much like a locked door. It bars friendship and other good graces that come with acknowledging differences.

Removing biases, whether your own or those of someone else, is unlocking a gate.

Ridding minds of these bolts involves the willingness to empathize with other perspectives. It means embracing people and unconventional notions we are not familiar with.

It is also about disagreeing agreeably. No one obliges us to agree with ideas, but the onus is on us not to force our own on others. Accepting differences boils down to mutual understanding.

And this acknowledgement cannot merely be at face value. It takes gradually embraced willingness.

Apart from this is necessary shared experience and conversation.

Below are five Fibonacci verses on the knotty subject of bias.

A

Gate

Locked firm

With dead bolt

Bars from Difference

Latched against the hands of his good

Gate

Stands

Between

Shallow souls

And spirits guided

By poignant truth and knowledge

The

Grills

Secure

Firmly latched

Against every grace

And the unseen chance of Difference

Gate

Locked

Now shuts

Mind's blind eye

To assured blessings

And the wholesomeness of good grace

Gate

Closed

Blocks sight

Of whole truth

And little Givens

That we take from hands of difference.

Inflexible, prejudiced attitudes keep goodness in all forms away. How do you deal with it? Feel free to comment below.