From the Chaplains
One Body, But Many Parts
12 There is one body, but it has many parts. But all its many parts make up one body. It is the same with Christ. 13 We were all baptised by one Holy Spirit. And so we are formed into one body. It didn’t matter whether we were Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free people. We were all given the same Spirit to drink. 14 So the body is not made up of just one part. It has many parts.
Almost 2000 years ago, in about 51 CE, Paul of Tarsus, now known as the Apostle Paul, sat down and wrote the first of two extant letters to the small Christian community in Corinth, Greece. He himself had established this community just a few years earlier, on his first missionary visit there.
During his time in Ephesus, in modern-day Turkiye, Paul heard the news that there was trouble in the fledgling Corinthian church and they needed some help to get back on track. The community was divided by bickering, quarrels, arguments and jealousies.
Some, it seems, were arguing about the nature and distribution of spiritual gifts. Which was more important? Praying for healing or caring for the widows? Who should be given precedence? Those with the gift of teaching, or those with the gift of hospitality?
Human nature has not changed in 2000 years, it seems. All communities of humans face such jealousies and divisions at some point.
Paul’s response, in his first letter to the Corinthians, was to point out that jealousy among those working in and with the Spirit of God is as irrational as jealousy between the eye and the ear: both are essential to the wellbeing of the body as a whole.
15 Suppose the foot says, “I am not a hand. So I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body. 16 And suppose the ear says, “I am not an eye. So I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, how could it hear? If the whole body were an ear, how could it smell? 18 God has placed each part in the body just as he wanted it to be. 19 If all the parts were the same, how could there be a body? 20 As it is, there are many parts. But there is only one body.
Here in the Pymble community, we try to teach our students that each one of them is a precious, unique and irreplaceable part of our community – of our ‘body’.
Just as each member of the Church is a part of the body of Christ, a valued part of the whole, so is each student encouraged to see themselves as made in the holy image of God, and able to play a unique role in the life of our community.
Inherent to being one part of a whole is being connected to the other. We all need one another. Each part, however small or seemingly insignificant, is needed by the other parts for the whole to function properly.
And the parts that seem the weakest, or seem less important somehow? They are to be treated with special care. They are to be loved and treasured and protected.
In a healthy and well-functioning community, your suffering is my suffering. Your rejoicing is also mine.
21 The eye can’t say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 In fact, it is just the opposite. The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are the ones we can’t do without. 23 The parts that we think are less important we treat with special honour. The private parts aren’t shown. But they are treated with special care. 24 The parts that can be shown don’t need special care. But God has put together all the parts of the body. And he has given more honour to the parts that didn’t have any. 25 In that way, the parts of the body will not take sides. All of them will take care of one another. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honoured, every part shares in its joy.
27 You are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of it.
1 Corinthians 12:12-27
This beautiful drawing by Stella Boyle of Year 10 won Highly Commended in the recent ‘Speaking 4 the Planet’ art competition run by Ku-ring-gai Council.
Just like one of the grand old fig trees that stretch out their limbs here at Pymble, lining the paths, providing shade for us and shelter for birds, insects and bats, every part of our community is connected and interrelated.
The magnificent trunk will not be balanced without the outstretched limbs. The limbs will not be supported without the unseen but essential root system. The tree cannot grow without the small leaves to soak up the sun.
My prayer is that every student at Pymble will know that she is a precious, unique and irreplaceable part of the whole that is our school community.
And that each student comes to understand that their value is not based on their grades, on their talents, their looks or their achievements, but simply on the fact that they are carefully made in the precious image of God – and that is more than enough.
Edwina O’Brien
Assistant Chaplain