I'm a foot
I'm the heart
I'm the ear -- I'll tell you what God says!
how about....
I'm a single skin cell?
I'm a white blood cell that attacks a single intruder? and dies...
actually, the whole point is - and dies.
if one is an ear, how many ears are there in The Body of Christ?
which makes more sense? for a single person to represent an entire fifth (or tenth if you count each ear seperately... but then what of touch?... anyway, we'll go with fifth) of the senses of Christ? or, for a single person to represent a single cell performing part of the function of that part of the body of Christ?
I guess that depends on if there are 144,000 chosen, or if everyone alive is in the body, if you're pre-trib, post-trib, pentacostal, orthadox, or live on the odd-numbered side of the street.
bottom line?
how does your death fall in line with the analogy of a body?
but not the death of your body.
Let's say there are two twins, Bill and Bob.
Bill sustains a traumatic head injury is either paralyzed and has very little interest in life, or, for a simpler example, is unconscious/comatose/vegetive.
Bob is a vibrant, talented, suave, polite, intelligent, driven, giving example of a human being.
both are aging approximately the same.
diets are regulated to keep them looking the same.
they have similar health habbits, despite the large discrepancy in exercise.
So, what is the difference between the lives of these two brothers?
the kidneys of both men are "heroicly" filtering out toxins, so the body stays healthy. Both scalps are producing beautiful manes of hair. Both have eyes that remain deep blue and healthy. Both bodies contain many organs and billions of cells all doing their job, and yet, one "lives", and one merely exists.
What is the definition of "life"?
I propose that within the context of a body, it is the individual parts of the body working together to accomplish a will. In theory, the will of the mind, but in reality, a foot may limp because of it's own pain, or, a hand jerk instinctively against the will of the mind to reach into a pot of hot water to retrieve a precious heirloom that has fallen in.
Sometimes, if not often, the large item part of the body must experience death in order for the will of the head, or mind, to succeed. In every situation, there are cells living out short, or shortened, lifecycles protecting and/or serving the body, and more specifically, the will of the mind in the execution of a task.
Often, these shortened lifecycles are significant enough to leave scars indicating their suffering, sacrifice, success and even failure. and yet, we say the body lives on, and the mind, the will of the mind, benefits from the sacrifice, and lives on.
How humbling then that we might represent single cells, or patches of skin cells that serve for a while, perhaps only keeping very minor contaminants from sensitive inner organs, perhaps being burned, stabbed, cut, scrapped away -- sometimes more painfully -- sometimes with no eventfullness to speak of whatsoever.
How sad.
How tragic.
That a necessary part of a, of the, body, live unceremoniously.
And yet, how much of that is our own choosing?
Are we really seeking the will of the Head? to find out how our vibrancy might bring about betterness for the body? for the Head? for the Father of the Head? or, are we more concerned with our rights, our priveledges, our titles, our glory, our ease, our lack of dying?
Perhaps we could afford to lose a few skin cells scraping against the rock of a sheer cliff the Body should climb. Perhaps we have gained a few pounds of fatty laziness that could benefit from some trimming, some DIEting? Perhaps a little bruising of the heel is worth a legendary journey. Perhaps, we should look more into the dying of life, and spend a little less time trying to "preserve" what we think is or was important in the stagnation we know of existence.
