Hokey Pokey
Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-17.
Do you remember the old game/song "The Hokey Pokey"? Sure you do, and in fact as soon as you saw the title of this blog, the song began playing in your head. Likely, it will stay there all day. (You're welcome.) As you're singing it, if you're alone, you might even try dancing through the motions. You know the words: you put your left foot in...you put your right foot in...you put your head in....you put your whole self in and you shake it all about...
THAT'S WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT!
No, I don't know how "the hokey pokey" is "what it's all about." But it sure keeps kids at camp and people at a skating rink busy for a few moments. But when I read the passage from Paul in 1 Corinthians 12, I think of this simple little song. We are part of the body. Our body is part of the larger body. I am not my own, I am part of a larger whole: the body of Christ, the church. And the church I am a part of is part of a larger whole: the universal church or, as the creed says, the "holy catholic church." And just like my body, where I need every part to work in order to be able to live well, the body of Christ also needs every part functioning in order to accomplish its mission of transforming the world. In other words, we need everyone putting "their whole selves in" for the body of Christ to be able to do all God has called it to do.
I've been reading a book recently by a woman who has severe neuropathy, in addition to other physical challenges, which causes her to lose feeling in her feet and other extremities from time to time. This leads her to falling down at unexpected or inconvenient times, but it's something she has realized she needs to learn to live with because God, for whatever reason, has said no to her prayers for healing. What she has realized is the truth of Paul's words: we need every part to function to its highest capacity, both at a physical level and at a spiritual level. When one part is not able to or chooses not to be "all in," the whole body suffers.
You may be a foot, a hand, a bellybutton or an earlobe, but you are needed. You are necessary. So, Paul says, put your whole self in.
THAT'S WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT!
Do you remember the old game/song "The Hokey Pokey"? Sure you do, and in fact as soon as you saw the title of this blog, the song began playing in your head. Likely, it will stay there all day. (You're welcome.) As you're singing it, if you're alone, you might even try dancing through the motions. You know the words: you put your left foot in...you put your right foot in...you put your head in....you put your whole self in and you shake it all about...
THAT'S WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT!
No, I don't know how "the hokey pokey" is "what it's all about." But it sure keeps kids at camp and people at a skating rink busy for a few moments. But when I read the passage from Paul in 1 Corinthians 12, I think of this simple little song. We are part of the body. Our body is part of the larger body. I am not my own, I am part of a larger whole: the body of Christ, the church. And the church I am a part of is part of a larger whole: the universal church or, as the creed says, the "holy catholic church." And just like my body, where I need every part to work in order to be able to live well, the body of Christ also needs every part functioning in order to accomplish its mission of transforming the world. In other words, we need everyone putting "their whole selves in" for the body of Christ to be able to do all God has called it to do.
I've been reading a book recently by a woman who has severe neuropathy, in addition to other physical challenges, which causes her to lose feeling in her feet and other extremities from time to time. This leads her to falling down at unexpected or inconvenient times, but it's something she has realized she needs to learn to live with because God, for whatever reason, has said no to her prayers for healing. What she has realized is the truth of Paul's words: we need every part to function to its highest capacity, both at a physical level and at a spiritual level. When one part is not able to or chooses not to be "all in," the whole body suffers.
You may be a foot, a hand, a bellybutton or an earlobe, but you are needed. You are necessary. So, Paul says, put your whole self in.
THAT'S WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT!
I'm a belly button. That's fun!
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