10/19/96

Well, it is 2.15am here in Ohio, and I am apartment-bound. I had double-surgery on my right leg on Monday, and will be on crutches for a couple of weeks. I cannot do much hauling books around to do any research, and with nothing to do here in my apartment, I have been working on my Lessons I have Learned mini-pieces.

My travel schedule was interrupted with some emergency hospitalization of my son (he is out now and doing well), and the somewhat longer convalescence period prescribed. I am getting caught up in my rest, and making general progress on several fronts.

I am needing to find a bigger place for my family in San Jose (the kids will be moving back in with me as soon as I can find a place), so I could really use some additional prayer support, if any of you can spare a moment or two.

It is always interesting to me how vivid one of Paul's messages becomes in times of personal injury. I am very pain-averse and risk-averse, so I generally don't do a lot of bone-endangering stuff, but I have broken a finger once (5 years ago), and now have a temporarily useless leg. I find it amazing how I have to change the basic structure of my life around, and how incredibly less efficient I can be when part of me is not 'carrying its load'. Just trying to make chicken soup tonight (the easy, can kind!) took twice as long and twice as much effort as normal. [I have a nurse's aide with me during the day for the bigger tasks.]

And once again I am reminded about how Paul compared the church universal to a body in I Cor 12:14ff:

Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

The obvious extension of this the Christian Church is: everyone needs to get busy doing their share of the work! Whatever your ability, interest, talent, skill--there is a place to use it. If someone is NOT using their resources for the work, then the rest of the group is working 'overtime'! This is highly inefficient, wearing, unproductive, and cumbersome, and the non-workers are missing out on so much fulfillment, blessing, joy, and satisfaction.

I know I have to be reminded of this occasionally (like now apparently!), so if anyone who is reading this needs to re-consider this issue, I hope you can learn from MY situation (so you personally don't have to learn it this way yourself!).

Anyway, I hope to post more of the mini-lessons this coming week, and get to some of the 9-10 month old emails I owe some of you!

Thanks again,
Glenn Miller, 10/19/96
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