After our recent jaunt through the 23^rd Psalm, I couldn’t help but be inquisitive about the colors of sheep. Most of us are familiar with black and white sheep, but did you know there are also gray, silver, brown, red, reddish-brown, and spotted sheep? I also learned:

• Some breeds produce many different colors.
• Some fleeces have multiple colors.
• The inner and outer coats may be different colors.
• A dark fleece of a lamb can lighten as they grow older.
• Even though the fleece color may change, the lamb may retain darker legs and face.
• On a spotted sheep, the white wool grows out of white skin and the black wool, from black skin.

Cool for colorful sheep! Boring for humans. We humans have only one skin color. The shade of our skin depends on how much melanin, or how much brown, we have. People are not white, black, yellow, or red. We do NOT match the basic box of crayons or package of construction paper handed out by this kindergarten teacher. So, let’s stop sorting and judging others by shades of brown.

Let’s look beyond skin, and see people, people created by God. “God spoke: ‘Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature, ’” worthy of honor and respect. (Genesis 1:26a)

Remember what you learned in Kindergarten:

• Be kind and respectful.
• Treat others the way you want to be treated.
• Share.
• And NO running in the halls!

Now, just look how nicely these sheep are getting along. Let’s try it!