Some years ago pop star, Beyonce Knowles, released a song entitled “Irreplaceable” The song is a break-up ditty intended to let her estranged partner know that he can be replaced in fact as the lyrics state he has already been replaced. “To the left,to the left, everything you own, in the box to the left…I could have another you in a minute, matter of fact, he’ll be here in a minute…” The song is clear, he can and will be replaced.
However, the ability to replace and dispensability are separate issues. You ask, how so? The ability to replace speaks to another piece, part, or person that is like in manner, function, and perhaps look. Dispensability speaks to all of this but let’s add these dimensions, sustainability (think longevity) and uninterrupted performance. In other words, that which was lost may be replaced, therefore, it is not irreplaceable. But can it do so without forcing a shock to the system of which it was a part in a way that cripples it, or eventually causes the system to function at less than maximum performance? Jesus of Nazareth says it this way, “Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved (Matthew 9:17).”
It is important to note that either one may not be inferior to the other. This obviously would create incompatibility. Rather the incompatibility is created in many instances because the two parts are introduced to one another at different points in development or more simply because they do not “know” one another. Such is the case when considering the words of the Nazarene, the new wine is not superior to the old wineskins but because wineskins lose some of their elasticity as time progresses they are not effective in holding new wine. New wine as it ages releases gases that will expand the wineskins. Given their reduced elasticity the wineskins will burst. Neither is inferior but nonetheless incompatible. By placing new wine into old wineskins the sustainability of both is reduced and the performance is interrupted.
It is not so much what the wine or wineskins do rather it is what they are. This is the key to indispensability. It is not what is done rather it is the quality of being, essence, or their ontological makeup. It is not a what question rather a who question (if I may assign personification to wine and wineskins). Each in this scenario is replaceable. However, if the scenario were to change they would be indispensable. If for instance, there were old wine that needed to be stored one would not use new wineskins. Old wine requires old wineskins for continuity and depth of flavor. New wine needs new wineskins for the reasons discussed above, it does not reach its potential. Both are replaceable but are in fact indispensable depending on the situation (this is of course if we live in a culture dependent on wineskins for storage as opposed to plastic or glass bottles).
For the sake of thoroughness, I am going to consider another example. In an age of medical wonders, a body organ can be replaced. A heart can be transplanted from one human to the other. A heart transplant can extend the life of the one to whom it has been grafted and gifted, of course at great cost to the one giving it. They can be given more time, one of our most precious resources; however what they cannot be given is sustainability and uninterrupted performance. After receiving a heart transplantnew medication must be introduced to the recipient to keep the organ from being rejected. These medications while allowing the presence of a foreign organ to do its work must suppress other organs and systems from doing their jobs. In this sense performance is interrupted and longevity while extended in one sense, is reduced in another. A functioning organ in its body of origin is indispensable even if replaceable.
Why does this matter or what am I saying? I am saying you are indispensable. We often believe that people are dispensable because they are replaceable. Remember indispensability is not about doing rather about being (This why we grieve without end, this is not to say we do not move on, however, one missed will always be missed). It will not work without you, at least, not without losing sustainability and/or uninterrupted performance. People are of course much more complex than wineskins or the totality of our organs but the principle remains the same. We compare the doing when to compare the doing is to miss the point. You change the system in ways that are not typically unaccounted. What you do can be replaced but who you are cannot. Recognize your own indispensability and then surround yourself with people who see the same. Not only at personal levels, friends and family, but also in the work you perform in the world. Do not let anyone or anything help you to believe that you are dispensable. Anything less is an affront to the one who made you. Seek it and if you cannot find it in that which exists, build it. You owe this to the world. Let your indispensability shine.
JosephTheo 