Being a diamond inside a square

I was driving home today.
I have taken the same route over a hundred times.
I was in between towns when I noticed the fields on
both sides of the road. The fields were harvested 
months ago. There are only sticks left over from 
the corn harvest poking up out of the black dirt. 
Sometimes, I'll catch a beautiful view of the colors
of a sunset during my drive. But, today, I only 
noticed the fields. 

Today, I saw a patchwork of squares. Uniform. 
Their colors were brown, black, and some yellow. 
The dirt is dry. It looked barren. And, it seemed 
to match the spirit and attitude of this place 
where I live.

This place seems spiritually desolate and dry. Dead. 
New people and new growth are discouraged here. 
And, it is uniformed. Just how they want it. 
And just as the fields all look the same, so are 
the people. Conformity. They do not want 
creativity here. They do not want new life 
breathed into this place. This place is dying.
And people come here to die. 

We were judged before they even met us. 
Did we look different? No. 
Did we talk different? No. 
Did we act different? No. 
But, we were. We are different. We are different
because we don't have family roots here that span 
at least three generations. That is why they 
used any judgement to ignore us. Even if it was the 
smallest reason they could find.

And, because this place lacks beauty, I realized,
it is also the reason why I lack creativity and 
inspiration. My creativity has been squelched. And my 
spirituality drained.  

I have searched high and low for God in this place. 
But, I don't often find him outside of my four walls.
I searched for Him in churches of a couple 
different denominations. But, I did not really 
see Him anywhere. People are polite. In a cold, 
impersonal kind of way. But, they do not 
act Christ-like. Not even in church. They exercise 
their right not to get close to us even in a holy place.  

We are diamonds trying to fit into a square. 
I tried. I wanted to fit into the square. 
I wanted this place to work for us. Call me
naive, but I thought that it would be like Mayberry.
But, instead, it turned out to be more like the 
town of Bomont in the hit 80's movie, Footloose. 

So, our house has been up for sale for half the year.
And, I'm ready to go. I want to move someplace that 
has a lot of color. A place where everyone doesn't 
look and think alike. I want to go to a place that 
has beautiful things to see. Both natural and man-made. 
I want to go where I can express my desire to help 
others, and actually be able to help someone. I want 
to go where all shapes are welcome, and where 
creativity can flourish. Where kindness takes 
precedence over conformity.

I do not think that the people here are wrong.
They belong here. This is where they fit.
This is where their families have fit for over three 
generations. We have only been here for seven years, 
and I don't have the kind of time needed to earn 
their acceptance. I can't wait three generations 
before I finally make a friend.

So, for us, it means that it is time to go. It is time 
to find a new place to call home. A place that will 
inspire, refresh and replenish. A place that will 
breathe new hope and life into our souls. A place 
where we can search, find, and see God once again.
We need the beginning of a new journey.