"And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.
Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular."
1 Corinthians 12:26-27
Paul's analogy here is comparing the members of a church to the parts of a body, and this part in particular caught my eye because the idea of us suffering and rejoicing together seems powerful to me. We wander the world sometimes thinking that we are alone, in so many different ways, but in so many ways our power, our glory, our joy, and our hope are all to be found as we realize that we are part of each other--as we learn to weep and rejoice with each other, to cooperate rather than compete, and to lift and support rather than tear down and dominate or ignore.
This isn't to say that extroversion is holy and introversion unholy... of course. We all learn to love in different ways, and that is okay. Whoever we are, we are still part of a community, and as we accept, learn about, and love each another, faults and temptations and all, we learn what it is to be like God and to love all people. God is in a position to judge... we don't have to worry about that part. For us, there is the much-more-enjoyable opportunity to learn each other's stories, to share each other's joys, and to support each other as we face heartbreak and challenges.
Today, let's work on remembering that we all matter, and that the loss of any one of us affects us all. Let's work on bringing joy to the community and giving back, and not being afraid to share our challenges when it is our turn to go through tough times. Let's be there for each other... connected through God's love and our love for one another.
Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular."
1 Corinthians 12:26-27
Paul's analogy here is comparing the members of a church to the parts of a body, and this part in particular caught my eye because the idea of us suffering and rejoicing together seems powerful to me. We wander the world sometimes thinking that we are alone, in so many different ways, but in so many ways our power, our glory, our joy, and our hope are all to be found as we realize that we are part of each other--as we learn to weep and rejoice with each other, to cooperate rather than compete, and to lift and support rather than tear down and dominate or ignore.
This isn't to say that extroversion is holy and introversion unholy... of course. We all learn to love in different ways, and that is okay. Whoever we are, we are still part of a community, and as we accept, learn about, and love each another, faults and temptations and all, we learn what it is to be like God and to love all people. God is in a position to judge... we don't have to worry about that part. For us, there is the much-more-enjoyable opportunity to learn each other's stories, to share each other's joys, and to support each other as we face heartbreak and challenges.
Today, let's work on remembering that we all matter, and that the loss of any one of us affects us all. Let's work on bringing joy to the community and giving back, and not being afraid to share our challenges when it is our turn to go through tough times. Let's be there for each other... connected through God's love and our love for one another.
No comments:
Post a Comment