One Body
There have been a few winter snow storm systems that have been coming through the Pacific Northwest. It almost seems like these storms are stalling and dumping right on top of us. One storm dropped almost a foot of fresh, which was light and fluffy and almost manageable to move. Because of life, there it sat and waited. With the warming temperatures and a little rain dropping on top, it became heavy and compact. Once the allotted time had come, clearing the fallen snow became a chore; with many hands and machines working as one, we were able to get it finished.
Between the lot of us, there is a Craftsman 2-stage 28" snowblower, a Toro 14" single stage snow thrower and many shovels to clean the berms and the dense snow. While moving the beastly 2-stage snowblower, I was reminded of 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 — "One Body, Many Members". As the massive machine cut deep into the snow, throwing it past the side berms of days' past cleanups, my mind meditated on verse 12: "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ."
As I walked back and forth, turning the chute to the left and the to right, the black blades chopped the wet snow as we carved progress. But, the Craftsman couldn't handle it all. Erin was working the Toro, making not-so-quick work of the mess we left behind. Small snow shovels and large snow pushers were employed by our offspring, and Erin's mom, which they used to quickly clear the deck and steps. Once done with that task, they moved on and broke up the hard pack which allowed us to mechanically throw it
Cogs of the wheel turned the snow clearing machine forward, inch by inch. Foot by Foot. It took many hands and different utensils to get it done. Each job was important. No one was greater than or less than the other. We worked together. We became tired. It was cold. The darkness quickly came. Footsteps illuminated by artificial light. Our family helped each other, working as one, to get the task at hand completed. 1 Corinthians 12:20-21: "As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”"
I saw and rejoiced in the "One Body, Many Members" that I am a part of. It was a joy for my wife and I to work side-by-side with our children. We try and teach our children our faith, hard work, servitude. To see it return in full color is immeasurable. As they get older, I am taught more and more by them.
"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — Jews or Greeks, slaves or free — and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as He chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." ~ 1 Corinthians 12:12-27
Such a blessing to work together toward a common goal!