The View from Bolton Street

Dear Friends,

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to 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. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.    – 1 Corinthians 12:4-11

I first came across this passage from Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth when I was about fifteen and wondering who I was and who my future self would be. I was new to the church, and new to the Holy Scriptures, so before that time, everything I knew about God was experiential, and intuitive. When I finally made my way to a church, I was given a J.B. Phillips translation of the New Testament, which I still have. I read the whole thing, cover to cover in one weekend. Knowing nothing about the Bible, I wanted to learn as much as I could as quickly as possible. 

It wasn’t until I got the epistles where someone was talking to the people about who they were in the church that I felt a real connection between the people in that era and my life as a high school student. It was a tough time in my life, because there were great expectations placed upon me, and I constantly feared I could not live up to them. And then on my weekend Bible-reading marathon, I read this: Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

This bit of text was a huge comfort to me because it assured me that God would activate gifts in me just as would be the case for everyone, and that the Holy Spirit was manifested in me for the common good. I did not know what to do with my gifts, but I knew they were there, and they were given to me not for my own pleasure but for the common good. 

Since that time decades ago, I continuously ask myself, “What is the common good? Have I used all of my gifts for it? Have I made this day count for the common good?”

We can be so much more than we think we can be when we allow God to use the gifts manifested within us by the Holy Spirit for the common good. The common good is how we all thrive, my friends. We can choose to ignore it or nurture it. Imagine how the world would be if we all made the latter choice? Imagine how our own community would be?

In God’s love and peace,

Pan+

P.S. Please remember to let me know (pan@memorialepiscopal.org) if you are coming to the MLK Day activity BEFORE I go to the grocery store on Sunday afternoon! I want to have enough snackage for all 😇.