How Diversity Enhances Spiritual Resiliency Published April 9, 2014 Washington, D.C. -- Guard Airmen belong to an Air National Guard family that is much bigger than the individuals of which it is comprised. Each Airman brings his or her own unique skills, experiences, backgrounds and knowledge to work toward bigger missions that accomplish bigger goals that ultimately serve a bigger purpose. Maj. Esther and Maj. Sung Lee, a married couple that both serve as chaplains at different Air National Guard wings, say this sense of belonging to a bigger purpose defines both spirituality and diversity. They say understanding the importance of both spirituality and diversity is vital to the success of the Air National Guard. To some, it may seem strange to look at spirituality and diversity as similar concepts -- that is, until you examine the way Sung and Esther Lee observed the extreme change in diversity after migrating to the United States from South Korea. Instead of simply conforming to American culture and shedding their former cultural identities, younger generations of immigrants have learned to contribute to the country's unity, while retaining their own unique and personal characteristics from their unique cultural, religious and familial backgrounds. Esther Lee, who serves at the 158th Fighter Wing in South Burlington, Vt., experienced this transformation first-hand as she observed the difference between how she and her husband raised their children, compared to her uncle and aunt, who moved to the United States from Korea during a much earlier migration in the 1960's. "My uncle and my aunt wanted their kids to become Americans as fast as they could," Esther said. "So, when my cousins came home speaking Korean, they would be severely punished," she further explained, "The more you speak Korean, the less you will be an American,'" her Uncle and Aunt would say, "So they forced their kids to speak English at home and in school." Now, she said, it's completely different. The Lees moved to the United States during a later migration period. One of the first things they saw in their communities was a sharp divide between the first and second generations -- they were not able to talk to one another because of language barriers caused by older generations insisting that younger generations only speak English. "Second-generation immigrants saw this happening and decided, 'We don't want to be like that,'" said Sung Lee, the chaplain for the 171st Air Refueling Wing in Pittsburgh, Pa. "I like to talk to my children, and I want to be able to talk to my future grandchildren." This second generation of immigrants decided to teach their children the concept of dual identity -- a sense of belonging to both America and their Korean roots. That, say the Lees, is the point of diversity: retaining your own personal identity, while embracing the different backgrounds of others to unite and accomplish the larger goal. One way to accomplish this higher perspective is through spirituality. By strengthening your sense of belonging to a higher purpose, you empower your ability to embrace one another's strengths and accommodate one another's weaknesses in the pursuit of creating a stronger, more holistic Guard family. Similar to the Lees' children, who grew up embracing their dual Korean-American identities, Guard Airmen live dual lives as both civilians and Airmen. They each possess their own unique abilities, personalities, strengths, weaknesses and backgrounds. Guard Airmen should aim to embrace their inherent differences as a way to work together in achieving the larger mission for the Air National Guard. Diversity is the act of bringing these differences together into a bigger picture while retaining the important characteristics that give us each our unique strengths and abilities. Spirituality provides you the motivation and confidence of understanding why diversity is important. Esther Lee says to think of it like a puzzle. "If you take one piece, you don't know what it is. It's very different; very distinctive. You can pick up one piece and say it's nothing but black or nothing but red, but when you take different ideas, different thoughts, different inputs and bring them all together, we create one big beautiful picture -- that's diversity. And you get there through spirituality."