The Henri Nouwen Society in Toronto, Ontario, Canada Daily Meditation for Thursday, 29 October 2015 "One Body with Many Parts" from Henri Nouwen's Bread for the Journey

The Henri Nouwen Society in Toronto, Ontario, Canada Daily Meditation for Thursday, 29 October 2015 "One Body with Many Parts" from Henri Nouwen's Bread for the Journey

The Church is one body. Paul writes, "We were baptised into one body in a single Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:13). But this one body has many parts. As Paul says, "If they were all the same part, how could it be a body? As it is, the parts are many but the body is one" (1 Corinthians12:19). Not everyone can be everything. Often we expect one member of the body to fulfill a task that belongs to others. But the hand cannot be asked to see nor the eye to hear.
Together we are Christ's body, each of us with a part to play in the whole (see 1 Corinthians 12:27). Let's be grateful for our limited but real part in the body.

For further reflection...
"The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts..."[1 Corinthians 12: 12 (NIV)]
The upcoming Advent Book Discussion - The Inner Voice of Love. To find out more, click here!
The First Annual Henri Nouwen Lecture featuring Jim Wallis happensNovember 14, 2015. For more information, click here.
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Text excerpts taken from Bread for the Journey, by Henri J.M. Nouwen, ©1997 HarperSanFrancisco. All Scripture from The Jerusalem Bible ©1966, 1967, and 1968 Darton, Longman & Todd and Doubleday & Co. Inc. Photo by V. Dobson. Scripture chosen by L. Yeskoo.
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