4 Now there are varieties of
gifts, but the same Spirit; 5and there are varieties of services,
but the same Lord; 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is
the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7To each is
given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8To one
is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance
of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the
same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10to
another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the
discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the
interpretation of tongues. 11All these are activated by one and the
same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. (I Corinthians 12:4-11)
Once
a week I take the commuter rail from Union Station to Yawkey Station in the shadow
of Fenway Park. Then I walk for 10 minutes or so down to The Riverway and
Wheelock College where I have the gift of doing a small piece of the Lord’s
work by teaching in that school’s social work program. The students are young
and earnest, and they have chosen a profession that is so important to us all.
They will work with our most vulnerable brothers and sisters or Isaiah might
put it: “The widow, the orphan, and the alien at the gate”. (They’ll graduate,
of course, thousands of dollars in debt and, if they’re lucky, they’ll find a
job with a starting salary of $35-40,000. That’s a topic for another
mediation.)
Actually,
I’ve digressed—I wanted to write about the uncounted total strangers I see on
the train and on my walk. I’m amazed about the gifts each of them might have.
Most of my fellow travelers getting off at Yawkey board buses that will take
them to the great medical centers in the Longwood Avenue neighborhood. What
wondrous healings do they support each day? Many are students going to the many
schools in the Fenway area or beyond to downtown. What is their future
contribution to building the Kingdom? Some look beat, down and out—taking the
train not because it is carbon-friendly, or convenient, but because they have
no choice. Do we write them off as without gifts? Have we stifled their ability
to find them? Just a thought.
Good and Gracious God – thank you for
our gifts; help us to use them.
(Jim Bourque)
No comments:
Post a Comment