For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. (Psa 139:13-18)
We are differently made. It is always a wonder, how different we can be from one another. It is all the more amazing, that the very things that distinguish us can both draw us together, and then makes us so revolting to each the other. What was once the source of attraction can morph into an abhorrent object. But is it so strange, that the foot is different from the eye? One can be so tough but menial, the other so delicate but precise. We can drag our feet through the mud but not the eye. The eye can distinguish near and far, and any shade of the rainbow but the foot nary a sight. It comes as no surprise that we can not choose between one and the other unless we are prepared to be either lame or blind! It is here that we frequently make for a confused lot; we cherish the thought that it is well to be an individual ourselves and to be unique, yet we struggle with another’s uniqueness or individuality. We become hamstrung in the notion that if one is not like us, he is a square peg in the midst of round holes. We are not comfortable with people who are different from us; and so we refuse or refrain to relate. It is enshrined in taxes, that it is permissible to avoid taxes so long as one is not guilty of evasion; one wonders at this creativity of man and whether if the LORD would tolerate a similar proviso in His dictionary and statutes.
In church, we seek, worship and relate to the LORD following frequently different paths. Some confirm commitment in expressions and activity. Those of quieter ilk, not quite comfortable with pomp and clamor often prefer the less demonstrative. There is praise nonetheless for those who prefer the anonymity of hidden pews and places. The tensions of Martha and Mary, Peter, Phillip, Nathaniel, Nicodemas, Zaccheus, James, Paul and John are clearly evident amongst us. Do these separate personality traits bind us or divide? Is the church above these differences?
The mosaic of separate, several personalities, woven by the LORD in the church makes for the finest embroidered tapestry. How often have we submitted that we find completeness only in each other; that we truly need and appreciate the different traits, the different personalities, the different colors, yes even all our agonizing differences? So often we forget, grow impatient, and contend because we have been made differently. Far too often, the character between us becomes hurdles by which we cause each other to stumble.
The LORD did not make us monotonous replicas of one the other. We know for a fact that no two fingerprints, no two snowflakes, are ever the same. It should stir our hearts to appreciate that us creatures, formed from the mere dust of the earth, have been given careful consideration, to be endowed with what we so proudly proclaim to be our own unique individuality; an individuality that should engender praise and thanksgiving as opposed to conflict.
Would it not be timely to look at each other and then to remember, that we have each, been made in His image? The luxury of having our own particular song, story and gospel can not presume on the earlier.
In church, we seek, worship and relate to the LORD following frequently different paths. Some confirm commitment in expressions and activity. Those of quieter ilk, not quite comfortable with pomp and clamor often prefer the less demonstrative. There is praise nonetheless for those who prefer the anonymity of hidden pews and places. The tensions of Martha and Mary, Peter, Phillip, Nathaniel, Nicodemas, Zaccheus, James, Paul and John are clearly evident amongst us. Do these separate personality traits bind us or divide? Is the church above these differences?
The mosaic of separate, several personalities, woven by the LORD in the church makes for the finest embroidered tapestry. How often have we submitted that we find completeness only in each other; that we truly need and appreciate the different traits, the different personalities, the different colors, yes even all our agonizing differences? So often we forget, grow impatient, and contend because we have been made differently. Far too often, the character between us becomes hurdles by which we cause each other to stumble.
The LORD did not make us monotonous replicas of one the other. We know for a fact that no two fingerprints, no two snowflakes, are ever the same. It should stir our hearts to appreciate that us creatures, formed from the mere dust of the earth, have been given careful consideration, to be endowed with what we so proudly proclaim to be our own unique individuality; an individuality that should engender praise and thanksgiving as opposed to conflict.
Would it not be timely to look at each other and then to remember, that we have each, been made in His image? The luxury of having our own particular song, story and gospel can not presume on the earlier.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, (Joh 13:34)
God bless.
/ckh
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