Cell - Members

I will be summarizing some parts since Dr Paul touched on a lot of medical terms @ times which many of us might become lost with all the names as well as quoting from him & adding in my own thoughts at times. Feel free to comment so that we can all share and learn from one another.

One drop of blood under the microscope will reveal a totally different picture to a human eye as compared to just seeing it as a red dot. Red blood cells are the most numerous along which one can find white blood cells as well. The protectors of the body against invaders, they travel all over the body and @ times having to elongate to travel through narrow capillaries.

If u watch them move ard long enough, u will think that they are so slow and ineffective, can they really defend the body? Well, poke a needle through a blood vein and these chaps suddenly become "alive". Like a homing missile, they zoom in on the target and defend the body against the invaders.

" I sometimes think of the human body as a community, and then of its individual cells such as the white cell. The cell is the basic unit of an organism; it can live for itself, or it can help form and sustain a larger organism. I recall the apostle Paul's use of analogy in 1 Cor 12 where he compares the church of Christ to the human body. That inspired analogy takes on even more meaning to me because of the expanded vistas allowed by the invention of microscopes. Since Paul's analogy renders a basic principle of God's creation, I can augment it like this:

The body is one unit, though it is made up of many cells, and though all its cells are many, they form one body ..... If the white cell should say, because i am not a brain cell, I do not belong to the body, it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the muscle cell should say to the optic nerve, because I am not an optic nerve, I do not belong to the body, it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an optic nerve cell, where would be the ability to walk? If the whole body were an auditory nerve, where would be the sense of sight? But in fact God has arranged the cells in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If all cells were the same, where would the body be? As it is, there are many cells, but one body.

The analogy conveys a more precise meaning to me because a hand or foot or ear cannot have a life separate from the body, a cell does have that potential. It can be part of the body as a loyalist, or it can cling to its own life. Some cells do choose to live in the body, sharing its benefits while maintaining complete independence - they become parasites or cancer cells. " - Paul Brand

Food for thought: Ever wonder @ times are u like the white blood cell, wandering aimlessly when they is no bacteria/virus ard? That one even starts to question the aim of your existence in that particular place, settings or time. Sometimes, some of us seem like we always have things to do to contribute to the body of Christ (Just like the red blood cells are forever carrying oxygen ard the body), while others "look" lost. But hey, everyone in the body of Christ serves a different purpose, just like the white blood cells know whats its actual purpose is, trust that God too has a specific purpose for U, just that the timing isn't right yet. When it does arrive, u'll know for sure 100% whats your purpose in the body of Christ.

Ideals of Spiritual Friendship - Accompaniment

Accompaniment

This brings us to the final ideal of friendship. Friends accompany each other on the journey of life. The term accompaniment may have musical associations for you. These associations are actually quite relevant. One of my musician friends is an accompanist for recitalists. He tells me that the challenge the musical accompanist faces is not to lead or get in the road but to stay in close supportive contact with the person he is accompanying. The challenges in spiritual accompaniment are similar.

The first interactions between Jesus and his disciples recorded in Scripture were his invitations to join him on his journey. The wonderful thing about accepting this invitation was that he then accompanied them on their journey. This is what true friends do. They accompany each other on life’s journey.

Sometimes we are blessed with a friend who accompanies us for the whole of our life. Ruth and Naomi were blessed to be able to remain together, and one suspects that their friendship continued even after Ruth’s marriage to Boaz. At other times the period of accompaniment is shorter. David and Jonathan journeyed together for only a small portion of David’s life. But for however long they share friendship, true friends share enough of their separate journeys that these journeys become intertwined. Something that was separate becomes connected. My journey becomes our journey, and I am no longer alone.

Friends accompany each other by taking an active interest in each other’s journey. As noted previously, this places a particular priority on the inner dimensions of that journey. But because the soul is the whole person, friends are also interested in the external aspects of each other’s lives. Job frustrations, relationships with family members and other circumstances of life are shared and embraced with interest because true friends care for each other in their totality.

Because the accompaniment soul friends offer each other gives priority to the journey of the inner self, they can withstand physical separation. Even across the distance of times apart, friends can stay attuned to each other and continue to sense the flow of each other’s lives. Catching up occurs quickly and the connection seems never to have been interrupted. Accompaniment doesn’t require a great deal of actual time together.

The lives of friends intermingle, and the intimacy they experience often spreads across a number of spheres of experience. They become an important part of each other’s story because they share in important easy in each other’s life. That sharing forms an important strand in the cord of accompaniment that binds their lives together.