Peter would get hot and tired whenever Henry was driving in traffic.  It was a constant hassle; push the gas pedal, hit the brake, push the gas pedal -- back and forth, back and forth -- gas, brake, gas, brake.  By the end of a day of driving, Peter was exhausted.  It was even more miserable when he was dressed up in a fancy show.  And then, as if the driving wasn't bad enough, he sometimes had to go for a walk with his boss.

  Well, one night Peter decided he had had enough.  "Let someone else do this job for a change," he muttered to himself as they cruised along I-294 at one o'clock in the morning.  (Henry was coming home from a long business trip and was anticipating the warmth of his own bed...another 20 minutes and he would be at the Cicero exit, then another five minutes home).

  Peter Pedal looked over at Fredrick Von Foot resting quietly quietly to his left and shouted, "Hey!  Freddie old man!  How about you taking over?  Give me a break.  You step on the gas and brake until the boss gets home.  Wake up, Fred. it's your turn to do something around here!"

  Fred slowly raised his big toe, stretched his arch and yawned.  "Peter," Fred slowly responded, still half asleep, "that's not my job.  You know that ever since the boss got rid of the stick shift, I've been mostly unemployed around here.  It's not my fault that you have to do all the work.  Anyway, you're doing a great job and it would be very awkward for me to step in at this time.  I'm not used to the way things are done now."

  And with that, Fred dozed off again.

  "Hey Harold!," Peter yelled up to the boss' left hand.  "Are you tired of all that steering?  And you there, Eddie (the left elbow), have you had enough of being stuck out the window or lying on that armrest?  Come on guys, let's all take a break.  Let the others work for a change."  Then he looked up at Emily and Elizabeth, the eye twins.  "Hey girls!  Why don't you watch the stars or the beautiful moon for a change?  Let Nora (the Nose) follow the road."

  At that moment, Shirley, Henry's heart, began to beat faster and faster.  The faithful, dependable workers were going on strike.  It wasn't fair to her either that she now had to work ten times as hard just to keep Mr. Schroder functioning.

  Suddenly a tanker truck cut in front of the car.  Peter screamed at Fred, "Hit the brake!"  But Fred felt awkward and hit the gas instead.  Harold let go of the steering wheel and told the right hand to take over while Eddie just lay on the arm rest and refused to budge.  Just then, Emily and Elizabeth decided to look elsewhere.  And poor Shirley, along with the rest of Henry Schroder, never did figure out what happened that early morning while travelling on the toll road.

  "Now the body of Christ has many different parts, just as any other body does.  God's spirit is in each of us so it doesn't matter where we come from or what our background is, together we are each a part of the body of Christ."

  "God put our bodies together in such a way that even the parts that seem the least important are valuable.  He did this to make all the parts of the body work together smoothly, with each part caring about the others.  Together you are the body of Christ.  Each one of you is a part of His body." (I Corinthians 12:12-13, 24-27  C.E.V.)

  Now the body of Christ is the Church.  Think about it the next time you're driving.

     -- Pastor Vidler --