Fall started this week. Can you feel it in the crisp and cool mornings and evenings?
Oh wait — I still live in South Georgia. Fall on the calendar does not necessarily mean “fall is in the air.” I have lived in places where there are four seasons. Someone told me the two seasons we have here are summer and February.  
Now, it really is not quite that bad. But I have to make a confession: I don’t miss the harsh winters of Indiana and Michigan. When we moved from Michigan to Pembroke, we had a yard sale. I sold my snow blower for $25. I probably would have given someone $50 to take it away. If I never see another snow flake, it will be OK.
I know that many disagree with me. Some leave the comforts of the South and go on snow-skiing vacations. Others point out the joys of building snow castles and forts, and riding down hills on sleds.
When I was younger, I did those things with my boys. But no longer. In fact, I promised God that I would not complain about the heat, no matter how oppressive it got. And for the last nine-plus years, I have kept that promise.  
Isn’t it great the variety that the Lord has provided in this world? There are mountains and seashores, deserts and forests. And when you begin to see the variety in flowers and animals and everything else that he created for us, you must know that God loves diversity.  
Now, I’m not talking about the kind of enforced diversity of political correctness. But I am speaking of the diversity of people and places that God made for us. The Bible tells us that God loves people from every tribe and nation. And yet, sometimes we want to draw the line on the kinds of people we will love and serve.
Martin Luther King once said, to our shame, that the 11 o’clock hour at church was the most segregated moment in time in America. He rightly understood that God made us all as we are with the intention that we would love and serve one another.  
I learned the song as a little boy. I don’t know if it is politically correct, and frankly, I do not care. I simply know that it is true. “Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.”  
That includes you and me — and for that one fact, I give thanks.