You’re Unique, Just Like Everybody Else!

   As sometimes happens with me, I got “thought provoked” at church on Sunday.  Sometimes this is a good thing and sometimes not.  I think this was a good thing.

   We were out of town – out of Sanpete.  We were in Pang’ Town (otherwise known as Panguitch).

   We spent the weekend there inasmuch as our granddaughter had a high school mountain bike race competition in that area.  She rode well, even though she wasn’t feeling all that great.

    The race course was out toward Losee Canyon which is on a road off the road that goes to Red Canyon which is the road that you take when you’re going to Bryce Canyon.  I just wanted to let you know that it’s “Canyon Country” down there.

   The road to the course was dusty.  Visibility was low for me, unless I gave quite a bit of distance between me and the vehicle ahead.  Then that strategy was useless when a vehicle came along going the opposite direction.  It was like a dust storm you see in movies like “The Mummy” or “Hidalgo,” if you remember those.

   In addition to those movies, an old, famous (to some of us),  rock ballad from the ’70’s came to mind.  The band Kansas had a huge hit with “Dust in the Wind.”  It’s a very beautiful piece of music, yet somewhat depressing with the lyric “all we are is dust in the wind.”

   With that in mind, let’s go back to my church experience on Sunday.   The program was put on by the kids of the congregation we visited.  There must have been 50 or 60 (or likely more) youngsters involved.  They all had little speaking parts.  And they sang in duets, trios, and as an entire group.

   One little girl got up and quoted Psalms 139:14 from the Old Testament.  Emphasis was put on this portion of the verse, “I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…”

   Out of curiosity, I looked up what meanings the key words fearfully and wonderfully would have in Hebrew.  Fearfully (Yare) doesn’t mean to be scared or in terror.  It means with reverence and deep awe.

   Wonderfully (Pala) has the meaning of being distinct or being uniquely distinguished from everything else.  And that was the point the kids in the program were attempting to teach – that everyone is unique.  Everyone is “one of a kind.”  We are special.  We are not “dust in the wind.”

   Eight or ten of the kids stood up to the pulpit and gave declarations of:  “I am unique because… (fill in the blank).”  Examples:  I am unique because I have a big birthmark on my arm.  I am unique because of the way I love science and that I want to be an astronaut (a girl, in case you were wondering).  I am unique because I was named after my  great-great grandfather.”

   It was fun to hear them give their versions of their own uniqueness.  And it’s true, we are all “one of a kind” – even though we share almost all of our genetic code.  About 99.9% of our DNA is identical.  But that 0.1% equals about 3 million base pairs of differences.

   Being unique has two main definitions.  The first strict definition is that it means there is no equal, no counterpart, no other of its kind.

   The second definition is that unique means rare or unusual.  I’ve been led to believe in my life that the first definition is the one to depend on.   I learned that something is not spoken of as being “quite unique.”  It’s either unique or it’s not.

    It’s like pregnancy.  A female is not said to be “kind of pregnant.”  She either is – or she isn’t.

   Here is where I say that Sanpeters are unique as defined both ways.  And that statement is a no-brainer.  Not only because every individual in Sanpete is truly unique, being one of a kind, but because I solemnly declare that we’re rare and unusual on top of that (look, there’s a rhyme in there). We fit both definitions.

   Last week I pointed out that Sanpeters make up 39 one millionths of one percent of the world’s population.  That’s pretty dang rare.

And if you want evidence of the “unusual” part of the definition – just take a stroll through Wal-Mart in Ephraim and take a look at “us.”  I’m not “throwing rocks” at people here.  I am, in fact, and after all, one of the “unique unusuals” frequently walking around in Sanpete’s WalMart.

   So, I think the kids in church made their point well.  We’re all different and special and “wonderfully made.”  They sang a song by Angie Killian – “Wonderfully Made.”  (They didn’t sing “Dust in the Wind.”  Neither did they sing Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall.”)

   Some of the “Wonderfully Made” lyrics are “… I am always enough; God made me special, one of a kind; With a heart that is pure, with a curious mind; I am wonderful, and wonderfully made.”  Kids, and all of us, need to feel that we are enough, special, and one of a kind.

   This column may have sounded a little preachy today – I don’t know.  But there was an ulterior motive at work with me beyond the basic message.

   September has been National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. There have been information tables in the county courthouse.

   Everyone has value, a unique worth,  and a place in this world.  Let’s help each other understand and believe those truths.  If suicide is ever thought of as a “potential solution”  in your life, please call or text 988 (anytime 24/7)  for free, confidential support –  or talk to someone otherwise.  Help is available.  People care.   — Merrill