A whole of many parts

Iain, our Support manager reflects on how we all have different roles to play in bringing hope.

Over the last week or so, I have needed to visit various Hope Nottingham food banks to complete some routine health & safety checks. Whilst people rarely look forward to someone with a clipboard and a checklist turning up, I have been extremely appreciative of the welcome I have received and it has given me a chance to spend time with volunteers at our food banks and see them in action. They are quite simply an amazing bunch of people.

All our food banks and the volunteers who so willingly give their time to serve in them are very different. But there is a visible common thread of compassion, care and hope that runs through them all. A consistent picture, made up of many different shaped parts. Over recent months, mosaics have been a bit of a theme at Hope - our Wednesday morning Mosaic Journey group have produced some beautiful pieces (see above) which will eventually adorn a new Quiet Garden area at Hope House. Our staff team have also spent some time working on a mosaic sign to go above our main doors (not quite complete yet - but watch this space!) So it struck me that mosaics were quite a good metaphor for Hope Nottingham in general.

At their most basic level mosaics are (after consulting the dictionary) “pictures made up of a combination of diverse elements or different parts that form a single unified whole”.

For me this seemed to work as an image for Hope in several ways. Firstly as an organisation we consist of a huge range of different parts – a wide array of guests, volunteers, staff, host churches, donors, supporters, funders, partner organisations and referral agencies all somehow combining to form the whole picture that is Hope Nottingham (albeit occasionally wonky, probably unfinished and constantly needing further redrafting). It has always been and continues to be my view that our diversity and breadth is not just a key part of who we are – but a key strength and asset in what we are able to be, offer and do. We regularly talk of communities of hope – and our organisation, in a way, is a community of communities of Hope. Different groups and individuals coming together to form a cohesive picture of compassion and care to the people of Nottingham. As an organisation Hope Nottingham brings together a wide range of experience, talents, viewpoints and qualities (as well as inevitable weaknesses, vulnerabilities and insecurities) that go into making up the whole picture.

Where the metaphor could go a little wrong is that in traditional mosaics (think Roman villas and the like), all the individual pieces (or tesserae to give them their technical name) whilst being different colours, were all of a uniform shape and size. As we’re probably all very aware – this certainly isn’t the case with people! Each person, both at Hope Nottingham and across our wider community is individual and unique – a one off. Happily, when I was googling mosaic-y things ready for writing this, I discovered that the type of mosaic that the group had been making has it’s own name: Trencadis. It relates specifically to mosaics made from irregular pieces of tile or ceramic where every piece is a unique shape and size. Whilst certain bits of tile may be similar, no two pieces are exactly the same. The name Trencadis comes from the Catalan word for ‘broken’ which I think is also fitting. None of us come to the canvas (or cement board) whole, complete and unblemished. We all have our cracks, faults and sharp edges. But as part of the whole picture, these are less significant – part of the overall design – compensated for by the other pieces around us.

From a faith point of view, it struck me that this is very much similar to how the Bible talks about each of us being like individual parts that make up a whole human body – each part different but having a unique and important role in making the body as a whole work. No part is more or less important than another. Our strength and ability to serve lies in both our differences and our ability to work as one.

I’ll finish with a section from Romans 12 which explains this – this is from the Message version, a modern paraphrase – and which I think speaks quite well about both our own roles as part of a team – and also what God is calling us to be in the world.

In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.

If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.

Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.

Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.

Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.”

Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.

Romans 12: 4-21 (Message version)