Just a few weeks before Pentecost Sunday I finished making the Spiritual Exercises, accompanied by a wise and engaging Spiritual Director. I believe one of the major takeaways for me was the importance of community.
As an introvert heavily involved with meetings and speaking engagements through the nonprofit ministry for which I was on staff, I tended to steer clear of most opportunities offered to spend time with people outside my family. God has been gently and steadily introducing me to the importance of making myself available more often to spend time with people. I can tell it is the Spirit that is prompting me because I am doing so now more from a true desire rather than a sense of duty and obligation. It’s like learning that I really do like a lot more green veggies than I did as a child. I look forward to having them for dinner rather than grudgingly preparing them because I know they’re good for me!
One day during one of the final weeks of the Exercises I was to read and reflect on I Corinthians 12: 4-27. This passage is very familiar to me, having taught a class that includes Spiritual gifts for a number of years now. But as often happens, once I put aside my familiarity with it and asked God to speak to me through it if there was something new he wanted me to see, I stepped into a broader appreciation for my believing friends as well as my faith family across the globe.
You’ve probably experienced seeing a rainbow of colors flash momentarily into view when light was reflected to you through some source that was just rightly positioned. A prism with lots of facets casts an amazing array of colors. And this is similar to what the Spirit does in imparting unique gifts to us. You reflect a view of God that I would miss out on if it were hidden accentuate from my view.
I so enjoyed the Message version of this passage. It seems to the importance of each one’s contribution to the rest of us. Here are a few ideas expressed by Eugene Peterson:
“We each are given something to do to show who God is…”
“For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of…”
“When it’s part of your body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or not seen, beautiful or ugly. You dignify each part as valuable – no comparisons. If anything, you might value what is hidden more! One example – good digestion over beautiful hair!” (my own paraphrase).
Imagine trying to color a picture of a field of flowers with no green crayon! Or how would we even get the color orange without red and yellow?
You matter, my friend! If you’re not sure how God has uniquely gifted you to make a difference, I hope you’ll begin to explore that soon! I would personally be honored to walk with you in discovering your purpose. You can contact me from this site. Safe Harbor of NC also offers a class that addresses this, called DESIGN, which I co-lead. Maybe your church offers some assistance with this. Whatever you do, begin now to discover where you fit into this wonderful plan for the Kingdom of God.
If you already know how you are gifted and you are serving in your “sweet spot,” take time to refresh yourself with spiritual practices that deepen your walk. The more you truly know and follow Christ and spend time with him, the more you will reflect his beautiful image in this troubled world.