A popular drink in the Emirates is a lemon-mint. It is as simple as the two main ingredients suggest. Fresh lemons complemented by muddled fresh mint. While I tasted it before coming to the Emirates, my Emirati experience has escalated this drink to a new level.
Unless you specify otherwise, it will come sweet. Over time we have learned that it is good to order the sweetener on the side. With a little experimentation, one ends up with a drink that is just perfect!
We recently ordered a lemon-mint to go with dinner, sweetener on the side. When the waiter delivered a small beaker with a dark liquid I was perplexed. This was a first. Until this point, sweeteners for a lemon-mint came as a clear liquid in a small serving dish. I looked at the beaker wondering if whatever this was would make a difference. “As it turns out, it makes a lot of difference – but not the difference so many have assumed.” (Romans 3.2)
Differences do not always redefine the potential for success. Traditional sweeteners make a drink wonderfully complete. In this case, this dark sweetener redefined the drink, took it in a new direction, and delivered a fantastic surprise. Both drinks have a place. In the moment, the new one was as good or better than the original.
Just because something is different, one should not assume one is right and the other wrong. While criteria can be used to filter out the qualified and not-so-qualified, care needs to be taken. Traditions and biases can often determine how open one is to new possibilities. With the maple sweetener, familiar yet unique, a variation on a lemon-mint took me to new places of satisfaction and wonder.
Differences often reflect diversity. Singapore believes in using its diversity in cultures, religions, and even language, as a strength. Life does the same. The first barrier to the possibilities in my life is within, my ability to see Divinity’s diversity that is found in people, values, and practices.This sweetener is amazing. I want another fresh lemon-mint.
