The world is full of marvels…and things that sting.

The world is full of marvels. I saw Portuguese men o’war (is that really the right plural, surely it isn’t “Portuguese man o’wars”?) on the beach over spring break. Or I am almost sure that’s what the translucent balloons dotting the shoreline were. (I had somehow imagined them to be much larger, based on some real life account I had read when I was a kid.) I was sure enough that I didn’t touch them. Men o’war or not, I have a healthy aversion to jellyfish. I’ve been stung before.

So I was surprised to find they aren’t jellyfish at all, but siphonophores. They aren’t a single individual but a colony of clones, genetically identical but each individual manifesting a different function. A marvel indeed.  

Of all things, it made me think of the passage in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 12:12): we are one body in Christ, though each of us manifests that differently in service to the whole. What would a homily framed around stinging groups of clones and Paul's letter look like? or better yet, sound like? I'm doing an 8 week course in preaching, so homilies are on my mind.

It also brought to mind Frederick Buechner: “Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid.”

But perhaps be cautious about what you touch?