PASTOR DAVE’S MUSINGS FROM THE HEARTLAND

May 1, 2022

THE BODY POLITIC

Thursday night, April 21, saw a gathering of the body politic of Marshall County, Indiana.  The occasion was a “Meet the Candidates” event sponsored by the Young Professionals Network and the Plymouth Rotary Club and held at the Plymouth High School.  It was broadcast and life streamed by Max 98.3 FM.  Jamie Fleury was on hand from the Plymouth Pilot News.  Doug Gehrke was the MC for the evening. I helped with registration. Twenty-four candidates for a variety of offices spoke.  There were about 80 persons in total present.

Candidates for national and state offices were given five minutes and those for county offices were given four minutes.  The candidates came from a variety of backgrounds, had wide ranging interests and concerns, but all were concerned to make Marshall County a better place in which to live. There was a good spirit to the meeting and many of those attending stayed afterwards to talk and discuss.  U.S. Granules provided light refreshments which were enjoyed by all.

In I Corinthians the Apostle Paul compares the church to a human body.  In part he says, “Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many.  If the foot would say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body.  And if the ear would say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body.  If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be?  If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?  But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.  If all were a single member, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many members, yet one body.  … If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.” (I Cor. 12:14-20, 26)

Just as all of the members of the Body of Christ are valuable and important so are all the office holders of the body politic.  Each one has their vital and necessary part to play.  The auditor can not say to the clerk I have no need of you.  The commissioners can not say to the members of the county council we have no need of you.  The sheriff can not say to the prosecuting attorney I have no need of you.  A judge can not say to the county recorder I have no need of you.  Where would our county government be if there were only auditors or only recorders or only clerks or only sheriffs?

In America the body politic is made up of political parties and persons with different political philosophies.  Each has their own part to contribute.  In a Democracy one group can not say to another group we have no need of you.  Very often the people suffer when there is one party rule.

All the members of a body are a part of the same.  “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.” (I Cor. 12:26).  In the same way all the members of Marshall County’s body politic are a part of the same county.  If one member  suffers, all suffer together with him or her; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with him or her.

Thursday night at the candidates meeting everyone was treated with respect and honor.  Hopefully this positive spirit can extend to other settings as the Marshall County body politic addresses its problems, issues and challenges.

A scriptural index of past articles can be found at musingsfromtheheartland.com.