Monday, October 28, 2024  

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Today's Scripture
1 Corinthians 12:12–20

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 the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — Jews or Greeks, slaves or free — and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would 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 would 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 the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 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 members, yet one body. (NRSV)

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Reflection

I was twenty-three when I first came to Fourth Church. On my own for the first time, I lived with roommates and hung out with friends who were, like me, young business consultants living in the same neighborhood. I both relished my new experiences of Chicago and chafed at the limitations: I yearned to be around babies and families, to really get to know older people, to befriend folks from different socioeconomic backgrounds and varied Chicago neighborhoods. I found all that at Fourth Church.

Many years later, I’m convinced that the “work” of friendship is some of the most essential work we do. We bring people of different ages, stages, and experiences into proximity. We create an environment for relationships that might not organically occur if we remained in our own neighborhoods and workplaces.

Sometimes these relationships grow out of Deep Listening Dinners or affinity groups. Sometimes they naturally develop as we volunteer side by side or notice other “regulars” at a particular worship service. Some require a little more work, as we push ourselves out of our comfort zone to greet a stranger or find something to cherish in a prickly pew-mate.

If the Center for Life and Learning were to say “You don’t need me,” we would know that is not true and that we do need them. If the Chicago Lights Social Service Center, Youth Group, choir, Stephen Ministers, or (fill in your favorite groups here!) were to say “I don’t belong,” that would be untrue — all of these groups belong. And if you hadn’t found your way to Fourth Church, the body of Christ would be incomplete. I thank God for you and for this work we are called to do — together.

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Prayer
Holy God, thank you for calling each of us here, making us the body of Christ in the world. Guide us to reach out in friendship and love, until no one is lonely, all are cared for, and we know we belong. Amen.

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Written by Amy Pagliarella, Parish Associate for Caring Ministries

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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