1 Corinthians 12:29-31

"Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?
Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?
But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way."
1 Corinthians 12:29-31


In this chapter Paul is talking about spiritual gifts, and how we're baptized into one body... all part of one another.  And immediately after these verses, he talks about charity, which is the pure love of Christ (Moroni 7:47).  To me, it seems like Paul here has a similar message to the one that Moses was offering in Numbers 11:29 when he said "Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets."  There isn't any reason to be envious of each other.  We're all different people.  Whether our roles are completely separate, or whether there is a lot of similarity in what we do, we still need each other.  No one is redundant, and everyone is valuable.  It is good to seek after the best gifts from God and to learn self-reliance, but it is also a most excellent lesson to learn to love each other, accept each other's roles, and work together.  We don't all have to focus on the same things, or know everything, and as Moses was wishing... we all don't have to bear the burdens alone.  Not everyone has to be the prophet, or the apostle, or the teacher.  ... Or, for that matter, the president, or the CEO, or the professor.  The point is to build Zion... and not only can we not do that alone, but trying to do so destroys the very idea of Zion.  Zion is a community... a community that embraces, educates, encourages, and protects *everyone.*  Today, let's work on respecting the roles of the people around us, and trying for some productive interdependence.