Equal does not mean The Same

I keep running into the idea that equal somehow means clone. For instance, for two people to be perfectly equal, they must have the same strengths and weaknesses, be just as smart, just as strong, etc.

Hogwash!

I'll use a simple math equation as an example:

3 + 8 = 15 - 4

Now, does 3+8 look the same as 15-4? no, they have nothing in common except their equality. To take this into the realm of human beings, it's likely that two random people aren't exactly equal, but, it's also likely that they are much more equal than meets the eye. An old plumber-man could be totally equal with a young athlete . . . if you took all their attributes together. The old man might have great compassion, or be a brilliant mathematician (gee, that would make a cool movie ;) ) while the young athlete might not be very bright, or have harmful addictions to various substances that hurts his life more than being old hurts the first man.

That was just a very silly example, but it illustrates how we could be compared to the mathematical equation above.

In mormonism, I hear a lot about perfection - how Our Heavenly Parents are perfect, how we will be perfect if we make it to the highest glory, etc. And then, individual ideas of what it means to be perfect are superimposed onto these people - "Heavenly Mother would never hide out in heaven while her Husband took care of the kids", well, what if she is shy, and wants you to come to her? Is there something inherently wrong with that? Are all the shy people going to hell? or be "cured"? The same goes for a very long list of attributes. The saying "One man's trash is another man's treasure" comes to mind. One person prizes their ability to be neat and tidy, while the other prizes their ability to be detached from worldly concerns such as messes and cleaning. Take a look in any personality list, and start comparing the "bad" and "good" characteristics in each personality and you will find there are distinct similarities.

hundredth post, woo-hoo!