Yesterday's epistle

I Corinthians, 12:4-11
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of ministries, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of workings, but the same God, who works all things in all. Now the manifestation of the spirit is given to everyone for profit. To one through the Spirit is given the utterance of wisdom; and to another the utterance of knowledge, according to the same Spirit; to another faith, in the same Spirit; to another the gift of healing, in the one Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another the distinguishing of spirits; to another various kinds of tongues, to another interpretation of tongues. But all these things are the work of one and the same Spirit, who allots to everyone according as he will.

What does that mean? We all have different gifts. I'm trained as a French teacher. Now I'm a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom. I'm an expert in my kids: their preferences, personality quirks, moods, needs, habits, et cetera. Why? I've been studying them in minute detail for years. Thinking about them, analyzing them, planning and preparing for them. When I'm asked about theology, I admit I have a pretty weak background. I consult better minds than mine, those with a better background who have spent more time with the subject--Mark Shea, Amy Welborn, Christopher West, Church documents, St. Ignatius of Loyola (or Antioch), St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Augustine...
That's why when we got married we didn't even consider writing our own vows. The Catholic Church has been around for some two thousand years; I have a feeling they've got pretty watertight vows after that long. We in our humanity probably would miss something.
That's what it means to be part of the Body of Christ. I like to think I'm part of the heart; my husband generally is part of the head, occasionally the spleen. We can admit some are the appendix, but why name names?
Like I told my students back in my schoolteaching days: Being a teacher doesn't mean knowing all the answers; it means knowing where to find them.