Foot Brain (Easter - Day 31)

(Based on Romans 12:1-21)

I was so intent yesterday on practicing submission with the people at work. I started off really well, trying to give words of affirmation and not honing in on other people's defects. I was doing great until about thirty minutes after the lunch rush started. The craziness was setting in. We were falling behind. Food was piling up in the window. I was trying my best to stay cool, calm, and collected. I kept making mistakes as I was trying to get the food out as fast as possible, putting the wrong sandwiches in the wrong to-go bags and stuff like that. I, the one who makes a big deal when other people mess up on to-go orders. Right in the middle of all this, a fried shrimp comes flying at my face and hits me square in the chin. 

I wish I could say that I looked my perpetrator in the eye and asked, "Can I get you a glass of water, friend?" I wasn't having any of that though. I located the shrimp on the floor, picked it up, and chunked it as hard as I could. I have to say it was a pretty good shot. I was pissed. It was one of those moments where my reaction was guided by some force that completely took over. I didn't have time to think, just to react. I pointed at him and said something like, "Don't you ever do that again! I will kill you!" Then I muttered some broken Spanish that went something like, "Tu es muerte." I didn't exactly carry out my plan of submission in that moment. I definitely tried to power up and retaliate against my opponent. 

The good thing I guess, is I laughed about it a few minutes later. I realized how silly I was being, and that if my opposing shrimp thrower was ever in a bind I would be more than happy to help him out. Just don't throw shrimp at me and we'll be good.

In today's passage, Paul talks about how we're each like functioning body parts of the whole. We all have unique, significant functions that contribute to the whole body. Even though we want to act as cut-off fingers and toes sometimes, it's next to impossible. We are still connected, and eventually we have to come to the conclusion that we're stuck here, so we might as well make the best of it. It seems better to accept the fact that I'm connected to the other parts of the body at work, regardless of how significant or insignificant I think their functions are in regards to mine. The truth is, I need them in order to function properly and effectively. Paul calls Jesus the "head of the body." I guess that means he's the mad scientist behind all this chaos we live every day. Sometimes it seems so silly and pointless that I just float by wondering when things are going to straighten out a little. 

But, to think that what I'm doing for the body is the most important thing in the world is delusional. To think that the body can't survive without me is like a foot trying to be the brain. The fact is, I do this more often than not. I think the workplace can't possibly survive without my guidance. The church can't possibly exist without my knowledge. My friends can't get by without having me. That's what I mean by thinking like a foot. 

The only goodness I have comes from the control center, the brain. And, in order for the signals to get from the brain to the foot, they have to travel through millions of other parts of the body to finally arrive to me. Then, I can walk. I am not an isolated part that thinks on my own and exists apart from the whole body, no matter how much I think I am. I need the other people around me in order to move, to function, and to walk. 

No matter how personal or impersonal we are, we are connected in ways that are both visible and invisible. The hard part is not fighting it, and accepting that I need the people around me, including my enemies and the people who annoy the crap out of me. I need my friend who suffers from extreme depression and cerebral palsy. I need my sixty-year old roommate. I need my boss at work. I need my girlfriend. I need my teachers. I need the cook who enjoys seeing me get pissed when he throws stuff at me. I don't need them in a co-dependent sort of way, but a connected, functioning kind of way. All these people are transporting signals to me from the source of power, and if I don't pay attention I can easily fall into the belief that I'm just floating along, isolated, creating my own goodness and functionability. 

Today's Action: Take notice of the people around us today. See how we are receiving "signals" from them in order to function properly as a connected part of the body. Thank God for each of them.