Denise Foerch, Spiritual Director
For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
—Romans 12:4-5
Last weekend, the church staff went on our annual retreat to plan worship for 2013. Our tradition is to spend our evenings playing a board game. This year, we played a game called Pandemic in which all players work together to save the world from an epidemic. This game cannot be played individually but only as a team. Each of us had a specific skill and task—Medic, Researcher, Scientist, etc. We could not win the game without each other. It was interesting to watch as we played it for the first time. When our turn came, our instinct was to jump in and see what we could do as an individual, momentarily forgetting we could not take our turn on our own. It was also easy to forget how important our skill and tasks were—looking to the others to do their part, only to realize that their part was limited without ours.
We lost our first game—we had not yet learned the different ways we could use each others skills. The next time we played we were getting used to watching for ways to pool all our resources in order to win. When we won, WE won. No one was able to say, “I won.” I found myself thinking how great it would be if we all could live our lives like that—interdependent.
When Scripture talks about everyone having their own gifts and talents, we often see it as making us feel better about ourselves—which is a good thing. However, I think the intent is for us to figure out how we can draw on all our amazing gifts together to bring God’s love and peace into our world.
A pandemic can be defined as, “An epidemic occurring worldwide or over a very wide area, crossing international boundaries, and usually affecting a large number of people.” There are pandemics in our world: physical, emotional, and spiritual. Diseases, hunger, violence, indifference, hatred, poverty, loneliness…the list goes on and on. Imagine conquering our world’s pandemics…together.
Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary. So, while we have the opportunity, let us do good to all. —Galatians 6:9-10a