INTERDEPENDENCE

Xvxn though my typxwritxr is an old modxl, it works wxll xxcxpt for onx of thx kxys. I'vx wishxd many timxs that it workxd pxrfxctly. Trux, thxrx arx 42 kxys that function, but onx kxy not working makxs thx diffxrxncx.

Somxtimxs, it sxxmx to mx that our organization is somxwhat likx my typxwritxr -- not all thx pxoplx arx working propxrly. You might say, "Wxll, I'm only onx pxrson. It won't makx much diffxrxncx."

But you sxx, an organization, to bx xfficixnt, nxxds thx activx participation of xvxry pxrson. Thx nxxt timx you think your xfforts arxn't nxxdxd, rxmxmbxr my typxwritxr, and say to yoursxlf, "I am a kxy pxrson and thxy nxxd mx vxry much."

Richard H. Looney, Medical Service Corp. Newletter

In illustrating the interdependence of one another's spiritual gifts in a local church, Gary Inrig, in Life in His Body shared the following story:

Several years ago, two students graduated from the Chicago-Kent College of Law. The highest ranking student in the class was a blind man named Overton and, when he received his honor, he insisted that half the credit should go to his friend, Kaspryzak. They had met one another in school when the armless Mr. Kaspryzak had guided the blind Mr. Overton down a flight of stairs. This acquaintance ripened into friendship and a beautiful example of interdependence. The blind man carried the books which the armless man read aloud in their common study, and thus the individual deficiency of each was compensated for by the other. After their graduation, they planned to practice law together. This story was related by Donald Grey Barnhouse.

No believer is complete by himself, we are to minister to one another, as a family.

Gary Inrig, Life in His Body

Many years ago an accomplished organist was giving a concert. (In those days someone had to pump large bellows backstage to provide air for the pipes.) After each selection, the musician received the thunderous applause of a delighted audience. Before his final number, he stood up and said, "I shall now play," and he announced the title. Sitting down at the console, he adjusted his music and checked the stops. With feet poised over the pedals and hands over the keys, he began with a mighty chord. But the organ remained silent. Just then a voice was heard from backstage, "Say 'We'!"

Traditional.

While on a tour of California's giant sequoias, the guide pointed out that the sequoia tree has roots just barely below the surface. "That's impossible!" I exclaimed. "I'm a country boy, and I know that if the roots don't grow deep into the earth, strong winds will blow the trees over." "Not sequoia trees," said the guide. "They grow only in groves and their roots intertwine under the surface of the earth. So, when the strong winds come, they hold each other up." There's a lesson here. In a sense, people are like the giant sequoias. Family, friends, neighbors, the church body and other groups should be havens so that when the strong winds of life blow, these people can serve as reinforcement and can strive together to hold each other up.

Lewis Timberlake, in Timberlake Monthly

Here is a another version of the same illustration:

The huge redwood trees of California amaze mankind. They are the largest living things on earth and the tallest trees in the world. Some of them are 300 feet high and over 2,500 years old. One would think that trees so large must have a tremendous root system that reaches down hundreds of feet into the earth. But not so! The redwoods have a very shallow root system. If one was to get down on his knees and examine the redwoods' root system he would find that all the roots intertwine. They are locked to each other. When the storms come, the winds blow, and the lightning flashes, the redwoods still stand. They are not alone for all the trees support and protect each other. Each tree is important to all the other trees in the grove.

Source Unknown.

A microscopic broken wire in a backup computer forced NASA to scrub the maiden voyage of the space shuttle Discovery. Joe Militano, spokesman for International Business Machines (IBM) said the broken wire was an integrated circuit within one of the Discovery's five identical computers which control all the ship's functions, including communications, navigation and guidance. "Engineers isolated the problem to an opening in an integrated circuit in a memory core unit in the computer's input-output processor" said Militano.

Principle: the greater the attempted achievement or the complexity, the more important the unseen parts.

Spokesman-Review, July 8, 1984.

During a rehearsal at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, the great Italian conductor Toscanini offered some constructive criticism to a featured soloist. She was too proud to accept his help, however, and expressed her resentment by exclaiming in anger, "I am the star of this performance!" Toscanini responded wisely and firmly, "Madame," he said, "In this performance there are no stars."

Jackson Wilcox, 450 Stories From Life.

Perhaps you have heard the geese honking as they fly northward in a "V" formation. They head toward the grain fields of Canada and Alaska to spend the summer. Two engineers calibrated in a wind tunnel why geese fly in formation. Each goose, flapping its wings, creates an uplift for the goose that follows. The whole flock gains 71% greater flying range than if they journeyed alone. That's why the leader of the "V" formation falls back periodically to let another leader take the point, and why the rest stay in line.

Traditional.

One time the electrical workers in Paris called a general strike. It had hardly begun when a child of one of the laborers became seriously ill. When the physician arrived, he told the mother that the little girl would need immediate surgery to save her life. There was no time to take her to the hospital, so the doctor quickly prepared the kitchen table for an emergency operation. Darkness was falling as the final sanitary precautions were completed. The doctor flipped on the light switch--but there was no electricity. It was impossible to perform the surgery. Just then the father burst into the room and exclaimed, "Hurrah! The strike is complete. There isn't a light burning in Paris!"

Source Unknown.