Are You a Lug Nut? (StVdP)

Are You a Lug Nut?

Reflection for St. Vincent de Paul Meeting, January 25, 2016

Dcn. Bob Bonomi

Brothers and sisters: As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.

…

But God has so constructed the body as to give greater honor to a part that is without it, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same concern for one another. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy.

The Word of the Lord.

Once upon a time, there was a car.  It was a pretty car, as cars go.  But one day, the various parts of the car began to argue about which of them were the most important. 

First, the engine spoke up. “I’m the most important part of this car.  I’m powerful; when people hear me roar, they take notice!”

Then the body of the car spoke up.  “I’m more important.  People look at me; my colors are bright and attractive and I’m what people notice when we go by.”

The headlights jumped in, “What about us?  You wouldn’t be able to see where you are going if it wasn’t for us, and in the dark others wouldn’t know to get out of the way unless they saw us.”

The tires chimed in, “Hey, we’re the big wheels around here.  You wouldn’t be able to anywhere without us.”

Finally, all the little lug nuts protested.  “But what about us?”

The rest of the car just laughed at the little lug nuts.  “What about you?  You’re so small and there’s a lot of you – one of you wouldn’t even be missed.”

The lugnuts were all sad and one by one they dropped off of the car.  Pretty soon the wheels fell off, and the car sat all by itself, unable to move.

The moral?  You don’t have to be a big wheel to be important, for it is the little lug nuts that hold everything together.

As Vincentians, always remember that you do not have to be pretty, or powerful, or bright, or a big wheel to help keep the world running.  You only have to be a lug nut, willing to hold on for the ride.