We Are One Body

"If One Part Suffers"
1 Corinthians 12:12, 26-27 "The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."

As adults who work with junior high and high school youth in a small community in central Wisconsin, my husband and I have struggled to find ways to help the students we work with understand what is happening in our country.

Most of them were in school when they heard about the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Some heard about it when the principal made an announcement to the entire school; some happened to be watching TV when the news broke; one was in gym class and first heard about it when a classmate announced that they were all going to die.

At a youth meeting the weekend after the attack, we talked about what it means to be part of the body of Christ at a time like this. One of them pointed out that when one part of the body suffers, we all suffer. A part of the body has suffered a ghastly, profound wound and we are all in pain. We will go to great lengths to restore the wounded part (donating blood, giving money, praying for the grieving). This tragedy also changes the way we see ourselves. It has caused us to recognize anew how much we need each other.

We also recognize that as parts of this body we each have different roles to play. We are so far away from New York and Washington, D.C. that it is hard to grasp the magnitude of what has happened. For the most part, our lives seem to be going on as normal. We wish we could be there to help, but we realize that is not our place.

There are people in New York and Washington, D.C. who are being our hands and feet, searching for the lost, cleaning up the city, comforting the grieving. Far away from the disaster site, we have other roles: contributing what resources we can to the recovery effort and praying for survivors and for Godšs strength for the entire body.

In all of this, we thank God that we are part of the body of Christ and that Jesus is the Head. We often donšt know what to do, or what to make of this pointless suffering. But our Head is well acquainted with suffering and with taking the work of sinful men and using it to attain His eternal purpose. He knows what to make of this and He has a plan to use this for good somehow. We are His body, fulfilling the roles He has given us today. Trusting Him for the rest is the only thing I know that gives this disaster any meaning.

Prayer: Dear God, the suffering of Your body doesnšt make any sense from what I can see. Instead of giving up hope in the face of this tragedy, I give thanks that You are our head and You have given us one another to share the burden of this pain. Show me what my part is in caring for the body. In the life-giving, gives-meaning-to-our-suffering name of Jesus, I pray.
Amen.

(Submitted by Susan Squires, Developmental Editor, Lutheran Hour Ministries).

American Pride
Main Page