BODY PARTS. The man’s visible eye said to the ear one day, “Too bad you’re not out front like me. This job I do, is the important one, you. I steer this body because I see.” As the ear thought clear, over the words he did hear, it came to him that he should be boss; “Without my tone that can hear a horn, this whole body would be a great loss.” And the hand to the foot said with a tone of disdain, “You can’t even scratch an itch.” So, the foot replied, “But for me and my work, all of you would be down in the ditch.”
And so, for a while, the visible parts of the body began to praise each one himself. It sounded to the listeners unseen, while the others did preen, that the rest could be put on the shelf. Then with a deep voice from the dark, came the voice of the heart, the blood-pumping life to the man. “Just hold it a moment, all you parts out there, stop praising yourselves if you can. You who sleep at night when life’s not too bright, who live in the light of the day; Some of us in here, that live in the dark, we all have something to say.
Just think for a moment, if you possibly can; what it would be like if we all quit. The light would go out of the eye in a flash, and your sight wouldn’t matter a bit. And the ear would be there, like a leaf or a pear, sitting stuck on the side of his head. But no one would care about the music that’s there, because everyone out there would be dead. And the hand that’s so dexterous, and the foot so ambitious, it wouldn’t matter who is what; Because if we all quit, and got tired of it, this whole factory door would be shut.
So, who really counts, when we try to count worth; which one is the one we all need? I can be transplanted; you can be amputated, but everyone here needs the Head.” As all stopped to think, even the eye didn’t blink, as they considered the words of the wise. And they all felt ashamed at the things they had named, before heart pared them all down to size. Without the Head, what would it be like; the eye would be floating in air. The hands and the feet, with no purpose to meet, would be both a useless pair.
And the ear would be odd, when there’s no Head to nod; he’d really have no place to stick. The whole body would lie, and each part would die, if there was nothing up there but the neck. Though we’re all many, in the Body there’s not any that can really function alone. It’s the Head that’s important, He the only Director, of the Body to make it as one. The Head has the power, it’s the Control Tower, that gives each member a work. When each knows its place, gives the others their space, and from its own job never shirks;
Then the Body works well; even when injured will heal; and move on to accomplish its goal. That the whole world will know, and the Body will show, that the Head’s the most important of all.
Whatever my role in the Body to fill, I will always need to be sure; That is what the Head wants, from the member that’s me, I will always be quick to be there. The work of the Body will have no reason to falter and will follow the course to the end. And then when each one, knows the work to be done, when the Head His message does send; We’ll all work together, the harvest to gather, and bring to the Father’s glad home. We will all join to sing, our praises we’ll bring to the Head who made us all one.