February 2021

Tea Time is a quarterly (February, May, August, and November) reflection on various qualties.

Va*ri*e*tea  \və-ˈrī-ə-tē\ n–  The quality of including many different variations best appreciated with a tall glass of iced of spiced chai.

I collect collections. You see, Uncle Sam (via the Navy) took my dad all over the world; he sent me gifts from across the globe; dolls, glass animals, and vases. These made up my first collections

Then as a preteen, I added candles and piggy banks (many were not pigs) to the mix.  Frogs, fairies, teapots, and tea strainers have joined my collections in adulthood. Endless variations on a theme intrigue me.

Our creator designed us to appreciate these variations of design. Imagine if every food tasted the same or only one type of flower in a single hue. What if all leaves and grass melted together in Crayola green? Or worse yet, what if we only saw in black and white? How dull!

God delights in variety as well. Consider how many colors appeared when He said, “Let there be light.” With each creative word God spoke, a plethora of different plants and creatures emerged. Then He made man in His image; male and female, alike but varied. No two human beings are the same. Like snowflakes, we possess a uniqueness all our own. The Lord is a God of endless variety.

We embrace His variety by reaching out to people different from ourselves. When we learn about their lives, their cultures—not judging or seeing our way of life as the best, or our skin pigmentation as superior—then we grow together. We bond as humanity. When we view each person, no matter how different they are from us, as made in the image of God, a small glimpse of the Divine-we learn more about who God is. Each individual, like a single facet of a diamond, adds sparkle to God’s infinite image.

From people of every tribe, tongue, and nation, God builds His everlasting Kingdom. Taste and see the Lord is good, like sweet, spiced chia from Asia, with cream like the Brits add, and iced because that’s how Americans like it on a hot day. And while you’re at it, invite a foreign exchange student or the refugee next door to join you.

This Valentine’s Day, let’s share the love of Jesus with a variety of neighbors, but since it’s winter, you may want to serve that chai hot.