One Spirit

" Brothers and Sisters: No one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit. There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.

As a body is one, though it has many parts, and all parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit." -- [1 Corinthians 12: 3-7, 12-13.]


When I was a little girl growing up, I was not allowed to have my gifts. I did not even know I HAD gifts.

I used to draw on scrap paper. The drawings were pretty good for a child. An art teacher in school said that i had talent, and encouraged me to continue with art. My mother said, "Absolutely not!"

 I would sneak into the art class in school, the class that the other students were allowed to attend. I would sit in the back and observe. But if the art teacher said to me, "Are you in this class?," I would shrink into the corner. Or maybe I would leave the room.

If I did draw, I would leave the drawing at a friend's house. Or, I would hide the drawings in a bottom drawer of the desk where I did my homework.

In my childhood home, my parents told ME what gifts I was to have. I was to go to this certain school, I was to wear my hair a certain way, I was to wear only certain colors, I was to plan for a certain field of endeavor and not others.

Imagine my wonder when I first read this Scripture about Gifts! It was hard for me to comprehend  that this was all true!

Then, after I married my Catholic husband, I joined a Bible Study group. The Bible Study leader told us that we ALL have Gifts, and they come from God. I had a hard time trusting that she was telling me the Truth.

A few years go,  after both my parents died, I started to draw again. I would take out some heavy paper stock and a drawing pencil. I would light a candle and put on some soft music. Then, I would feel fear again. But I made myself put pencil to paper; and the more I drew, the easier it became. I found that my talent had never left me.

Later, when I was recounting this story to a fellow Christian, he was astonished that I would light a candle and play music. You see, I did not even know what I was doing, but I found out that lighting a candle summons the Holy Spirit.

I am beginning to see that we really do all have Gifts. The Gifts come from the Spirit. The Gifts are ours to keep. No one can take them away.

And about this One Body concept?

I am thinking of a family with four children. The baby in the family complains that he does not have the artistic talent of an older sister, or the design talent of an older brother.  He forgets his own considerable musical talent. The middle sister complains that she is "just the middle child" : not the oldest, not the youngest, not nearly as talented as the other siblings. She forgets that she is always the linchpin, the strong link that keeps the peace in the family and binds them all together.

It always bothers me when I see people, who think that their Gifts are not good enough. How could something that comes from God be "not good enough"?

From this, I am learning that the Gifts that God gives us are exactly what He meant us to have.  If He meant us to be like someone else, He would have made us differently.

And all of the Gifts in a family are essential, and part of the whole.

It is the same way in a church. We need the cantor, the organist, the head of the Finance Committee, the Lectors, etc. Maybe I cannot sing, but I can sure write the Parish blog.

No one Gift is superior to the others. After all, we need eyes to see, legs to walk, ears to hear. . . .

Rather than dividing us, our Gifts unite us into one beautiful whole. Whether  Jew or Greek, slave or free, we are one people, united in the Spirit: the one, shared Spirit which grants us our Gifts and grants us our place in the world.

[Related Posting: "Burying My Talents", November 13, 2011; "My Labor of Love", August 30, 2012.]

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