Let me begin with a confession: I am absent-minded. Worse yet, I often read or do a Cryptogram while eating. That has led to many a spilled glass of water. My mouth and throat tell my brain that I am thirsty, my brain tells my arm and hand to reach out, pick up the glass of water and bring it to my mouth. But if my eyes are focussed on something else, my hand reaches to where my brain thinks the glass should be, and – bump! Just like a little child.

I have found one solution to that; I replaced our tall water glasses with wide, stubby ones with thick bottoms. I would have to bump one of those rather aggressively to spill the water. Of course, the real answer is to engage my eyes in the process. I’m still working on that, old habits don’t change quickly.

As a rule, I do a good job of coordinating hand and eye. Last Thursday I bought a foot long sub in a nearby town, then unwrapped and ate it on the way home. The car didn’t wander and I wasn’t wearing any of the sub when I got home.

The New Testament describes the church as a body, with Christ as the head and individual members as parts of the body. All are connected to the head and receive instructions from it. Each one is also connected to the others, so that the body is able to function to edify itself – to eat and drink and do all the other things that are needed for the life and growth of the body.

The most complete description of this is in the 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians. The apostle Paul tells us that no member can say he has no need of the others and that when one member is injured the whole body feels the pain.

A body does no consist of scattered body parts, each one alive and connected to the head, but having no connection to each other. We need to be knit together (Colossians 2:19) into one coordinated body.

Many things we do are almost automatic, like walking. I do not make a conscious decision for every step I take. However, if I ignore the help of my eyes and ears I might step into a hole in the sidewalk, walk into a parking metre or into the path of an oncoming vehicle. In order to avoid such mishaps, each part of the body needs the help of the other parts, plus the guidance of the Head.

And, since I am clumsy at times, spilling the water from my glass over things that should not get wet, I should not expect other members of the body to do things just right. If we blame each other every time a little water is spilled, the body soon becomes crippled, unable to function as it should. The thing to do is mop up the water, put things back in order and get on with the meal, or whatever it was that we were doing.

That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. 1 Corinthians 12:25