"Dear God." The little boy prayed one night. "Why did you make me different?"
"Why my child," God replied in a gentle tone. "Let me ask you a question first. When you buy a box of crayons, do you prefer a box with only a few colors, or one with many colors?"
"That is easy." The child quickly replied. "I want as many colors as possible."
"And why is that?"
"'Cause. I need different colors for different things I'm coloring."
"Exactly! And when you line those crayons up, how do they compare?"
"Well there are some that are very similar and some that are very different. Like purple is really close to lavender, but not even close to black."
"And what would your pictures look like if all your colors were similar?" God asked the child with pride in his voice.
"They would be very boring and no one would like them."
"That is exactly right." God replied as the light of the moon got brighter in the room. "That is how boring the world would be if I made everyone similar. I make different people because they all have a different role to play. You may not understand why you are as different as a purple crayon is from a black one right now, but one day when only purple will do you will understand."
The little boy smiled. "I'll be ready."
--Chris Pollock 10/25/11
