Leading a Double Life

      From the moment they were born, the two brothers were inseparable
-- literally.  Chang and Eng Bunker were the original Siamese Twins.

     Born in 1811 on a houseboat in Siam (Thailand), the boys were
joined at the breastbone by a fleshy mass as thick as an arm, which grew
with exercise to a length of about 20 centimetres.  Chang, on the right
in photos, was the dominant, smarter twin and mild-mannered Eng usually
gave in to his demands.  When the two had their first serious fistfight
at age six, their mother warned them they couldn't act like that and
hope to survive.

     In 1824, two traders saw the boys and arranged a western tour on
which the twins entertained sympathetic audiences with somersaults and
backflips.  Just over five feet tall and weighing a total of 180 pounds,
the two had synchronized pulses and breathing rates.  Secretly tickling
one could make the other react.  In joint letters, which they signed
Chang Eng, they used the pronouns "I" and "me".

     When they came of age, the young men canceled their performance
contract and eventually settled in remote Wilkesboro, North Carolina
where they grew tobacco.  The 31-year-old twins then wed two sisters,
Adelaide and Sarah Yates, though a reluctant Sarah needed persuasion to
marry Eng.  Together, the couples had 21 children.

     But when the wives began to bicker, the men divided their farm and
set up separate houses.  They took turns, living three days in each
home.  The "visiting" brother would keep quiet and act as if he wasn't
there.  But there was no ignoring their differences.  Eng loved
all-night poker games but Chang never played.  Chang drank, instead, but
he couldn't hold his liquor.  A few times, the brothers punched each
other and Chang once pulled a knife on Eng.

     Still, the two got past their problems and often went back to show
business to support their large families, until 1870 when Chang had a
stroke.  For the rest of their lives, Eng helped carry his brother's
paralyzed leg in a sling.

     Four years later, Eng woke one morning to find Chang had died,
probably from a blood clot in the brain.  "Then I am going!", he gasped
as he pulled his brother close, fell into a stupor and died soon after.
An autopsy showed the twins shared a common liver.

     In the church, we share a common heart with the brothers and
sisters with whom we are inextricably joined from the moment of our new
birth.  "We are all parts of His one body and each of us has different
work to do.  And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each
other, and each of us needs all the others." (Rom. 12:5)

     Like Chang and Eng, we're radically different in our personalities
and preferences, and that often leads to serious conflict.  But our
Father has warned us that fighting jeopardizes our very survival
because, like it or not, we must rely on each other, especially when
we're considered freaks by a world all too ready to exploit us.  We are,
indeed, our brother's keeper.  It's the Christian version of leading a
double life.

     Despite our differences, we have the same inner workings of the
Spirit;  what affects one will affect all;  and, without co-ordination
and co-operation, movement forward is impossible.  So is spiritual
reproduction.

     So when the quarreling starts -- as it inevitably will -- perhaps
we can follow the example of Chang and Eng who took turns keeping their
mouths shut and submitting to each other.  Any time each party is ready
to concede, rather than secede, we'll succeed.

    We'll still have our problems.  But when we finally realize how much
we depend on one another, we'll be much more able and willing to support
any part of our Body that's injured or immobilized.

     Let's handle our differences with love and acceptance.  After all,
we're joint heirs.

-- by Rick Gamble, published in Cross Current, Brantford, Ontario.
Reprint in non-profit publications only.