Oregano from Italy, tomatoes from Spain, salt from Germany, mushrooms from the United States, noodles from China, basil from Portugal, oregano from Hungary — this diversity of ingredients combine to create a delicious food.

Yes, you guessed it: spaghetti!

And no, this is not the cooking section, so to speak.

We don’t think of individual ingredients when we take the first delicious bite of any dish we love. Our taste buds know only the unity of and blending of rich, diverse ingredients from our global village.

The real taste of spaghetti comes from all the flavors, all those diverse ingredients combined together. Literally, the strength of the taste comes from the unity of diversity in the dish.

We do not tolerate the ingredients combined together; we relish them! We do not consider them separate in their contributions to the taste.

Spaghetti tastes good because each ingredient in the sauce adds strength to the total flavor. If any one ingredient is missing, the entire dish loses its culinary strength.

Our simple feelings about the taste of our favorite foods model the feelings we are supposed to have about the diversity of the world.

Diversity is not about social programs; it’s about not righteous words; it’s certainly not about religious zealotry. It’s an unspoken change of our feelings that almost unconsciously tells us the flavor is best when we stop thinking about the separation of the diverse ingredients that make it up.

Diversity in food is not thought of as separate tastes to be tolerated but as a blend which, together, creates the taste we love.

And, by the way, none of those spaghetti ingredients had to give up their differences or heritage to become unified in the sauce. Quite the opposite: The strength of the taste comes from their diversity, even as they bubble together in the mix.

Like spices, diverse cultures that maintain their diversity and come together produce our worldly strength.

As a Baha’i, my faith makes it abundantly clear that races, ages, ethnicities, cultures and genders all make this symphony of the earth rich.

We are not to consider them as separate elements to be tolerated. Separation and exclusion make this planet of rich cultures bland and tasteless.

Imagine isolating the salt or basil in spaghetti sauce and eating a handful of it instead of the whole sauce. Yuck!

Tolerance exists, certainly. But, it is a step, a process — not an answer.

We must strive for sincere, heartfelt love for diverse cultures.

Imagine if I walked into any of my college classrooms with the firm belief that I could offer my best teaching tolerating the students and their tolerable questions?

How about you? Imagine going through life satisfied with tolerating your family members or friends.

How about sitting around the holiday season dinner table and offering thanks for the tolerance you feel for your family in the room?

Or going to a family member’s funeral and delivering words of tolerance for the departed: “We will miss her, but it was so good tolerating her for those 83 years.”

Tolerance is the beginning of connecting with others, not the end.

Love is the end. The constant demonstration of our love and caring for one another is the only solution for this planet.

Tolerating our differences as a mask for deeper connections is not enough. You either truly respect, understand and love your family and friends, or you do not.

You either respect, understand and love your neighbors around the block and around the world, or you do not.

Baha’u’llah, prophet and founder of the Baha’i faith, states: “We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations — that all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that all bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened — and so it shall be; these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away and the most great peace shall come. Let not man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind.”

If you are interested in more messages of unity, diversity and peace, e-mail my at Cette adresse email est protégée contre les robots des spammeurs, vous devez activer Javascript pour la voir. or call the Baha’i national information center at 800-22-Unite.

Reach Dr. Chris Gilbert of Baha’i Faith at Cette adresse email est protégée contre les robots des spammeurs, vous devez activer Javascript pour la voir. or visit www.bahai.org for more information.

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