My little green flip calendar on the kitchen table has a wise African proverb for each day of the year. Although I have had that calendar for about 15 years, I never get tired of reading each proverb once a year. Some of the sayings amuse me. Others make me think.

Once in a while, the proverb is so profound, I utter an emphatic “Amen” of agreement. Such is the simple Ethiopian proverb that is right on: “As long as I hold you to be inferior, I render myself to be inferior.”

Sadly, many people could benefit from that succinct message, especially in today’s divisive society.

Do you paint everyone of a certain age group, ethnic or cultural background or color or political party or religion with the same broad brush? Goodness knows, not all Caucasians are alike or even similar. The same goes for every group and demographic.

If we are honest with ourselves, we will recognize there is good and bad in every group.

We would be much better off if we focused on the things we have in common, rather than on our differences, whether real or perceived. And what is wrong with differences anyway? They actually can be good. Think how boring life would be if all of us were alike. It is normal to be different.

Even within families, including mine, striking differences are evident among siblings who grow up in the same environment.

Respecting each other’s differences and learning from them can help us understand the views and culture of other groups, even if we don’t agree with them. Being exposed to different ideas can make us think.

For me, this can be fun and enlightening.

When my late husband and I traveled, we tried to immerse ourselves in foreign cultures. Some of the local folks we met invited us to their homes for a meal and conversation. I loved it, and I learned things I never read in books or travel guides.

The reaction of friends and family back home, when told of our adventures, surprised me. We were asked, for example, if we weren’t afraid to go to a stranger’s home or whether we were the only white people there!

I am not afraid of friendly people anywhere, and I really did not notice whether we were the only white folks in the home. I just saw delightful, interesting individuals, not colors.

What I did notice, however, was a painting of a dark-hued Jesus on the living room wall in one of the homes we visited. That makes perfect sense when we remember the Biblical scripture in Genesis that tells us, “God created man in his image ... male and female he created them.” Think about it. What image? Male? Female? Black? White? Asian? Hispanic? You get the picture.

The questions can be endless. The answers remain a mystery.

Most likely every human is encompassed by that scripture, so it can’t be true that some people are by nature superior and others inferior. Only in our minds are we unequal.

If we do a thorough spring cleaning of our hearts and minds, we can toss out the seeds of hatred and prejudice and make more room for tolerance and acceptance and goodwill toward all.