1 Corinthians 12:15-20 (NIVUK)
Now if the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
Belonging, Diversity, Unity.
In our daytime prayers, we were drawn to the repeated emphasis on God knowing more than we know in choosing where and who to position within the Body of Christ - and our need to hear and respond to his calling and prompting. Also to the value that God places on our distinctive and individual identities - both as individuals and as church communities.
Picture of two tall, upright trees, close together so as to almost merge into one, but remaining distinct. Branches sprouting - innermost intermingling, outermost distinct, all blossoming. It was suggested that these two trees could symbolise the coming together of our two churches, distinct in their trunks but intermingling of the branches indicating the interaction of growth and flourishing together.
In the evening, we noted various insights and observations in an exercise of Bible reading that some will know as the ancient discipline of "Lectio Divina" - repeated reading of the same text to draw out deeper insights - what God may be saying, how it applies to each of us, how we will respond in prayer and action:
Now if the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
Belonging, Diversity, Unity.
In our daytime prayers, we were drawn to the repeated emphasis on God knowing more than we know in choosing where and who to position within the Body of Christ - and our need to hear and respond to his calling and prompting. Also to the value that God places on our distinctive and individual identities - both as individuals and as church communities.
Picture of two tall, upright trees, close together so as to almost merge into one, but remaining distinct. Branches sprouting - innermost intermingling, outermost distinct, all blossoming. It was suggested that these two trees could symbolise the coming together of our two churches, distinct in their trunks but intermingling of the branches indicating the interaction of growth and flourishing together.
In the evening, we noted various insights and observations in an exercise of Bible reading that some will know as the ancient discipline of "Lectio Divina" - repeated reading of the same text to draw out deeper insights - what God may be saying, how it applies to each of us, how we will respond in prayer and action:
- "God has placed"
- ...just as he [God] has chosen
- Not where God wants me to be but how he wants me to be
- "But" .... all things are possibe with God
- We are not locked into being one part through our whole life, our "fit" within the body changes as the body changes
- Our diversity of who we are and how God has made us enriches our relationships and our work
- The Apostle Paul paints a pciture of the Body as a finished perfect creation, and yet we are a work in progress. Some elements of the body are either missing or in the wrong place and need to find our God-given place for the make up of the body now, not just where we have previously fitted.