JOY SYLVESTER JOHNSON: We Are Called to Unity Not Uniformity

Joy Sylvester Johnson

Most people have two thumbs.

I, the ouconsummate overachiever, have ten.

In my mind, I still believe it I have the ability to patch the drywall, change the furnace filter and repair the loose arms on the dining room chairs. Unfortunately, my mind has no hands but mine– the ones with ten thumbs.

The good news for me is that I have always had the most talented and wonderful friends and neighbors, who upon seeing my ten thumb condition–save me.

I always watch what they are doing. It makes perfect sense. I begin to believe I too could rewire the stove or change the faucet.

I memorize the lingo so I can be bilingual at the hardware store and assist by being the supplies runner for the people blessed with fingers.

When the scripture talks about the Body of Christ having many parts I am sure the writer was thinking of people like me. Usually when I read that scripture I think about the things I think I do well, but today I thought about my ten thumbs and experienced that scripture from the perspective of my lack of ability.

I once heard Sister Simone, of the Nuns on the Bus fame, say she was sure she was called to be the “stomach acid” of the Body of Christ.

Stomach acid is certainly needed if we are to digest and grow, but not a role I suspect many would eagerly claim.

Today, I am grateful for all the parts of the body that function in ways I cannot.

Thank God we have been called to unity, not uniformity!

Joy Sylvester-Johnson

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