One is the Loneliest Number
Two people are better
off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the
other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying
close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone
can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three
are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (New Living Translation)
(I usually like to post a verse from the ESV or RSV (old) translation on these, but I felt like the NLT said this a little more directly.)
Hey, everybody! Sorry for the long drought between posts, but times have been extremely busy over the last couple of years with massive amounts of random stuff getting in the way. I’ve missed you on line (all two or three of you) and am ready to share some random thoughts and musings once again.
Have any of you tried to do a hair braid? I used to try to braid my wife’s hair, when it was longer, before a softball game. She will be the first to tell you, and I agree, that I suck at braiding hair. Three handfuls of hair should not be possible with only two hands! Yet, it seems to be done all the time. When her hair was braided, it stayed out of her way, and let her play without that distraction. Somehow, all those loose hairs came together and stayed put. (at least when I didn’t do it)
As the world is emerging from Covid hibernation, people are getting back out and experiencing being with other people again. Going to concerts, movies, church, work, even just shopping, is a chance for freedom and getting out of the house. Here’s my problem though. I’ve always been a bit of an introvert. I LIKE being at home. When I was working, shopping, worshiping and even leading worship from home, I was in my element. Mask, so what? It just let me, when I had to, preserve a little seclusion. Only reveal what I had too. It felt….comfortable. Safe.
Now, I was never totally alone, because my wife was there with me. I’m pretty sure she liked when I got out, so she could have some time herself! But being alone has its problems. If everything is going well, it’s fine. When everything is going bonkers, you’re shouldering all that weight on your own. And it can be massive.
Our natural state, mine included, is actually in communion. In communion with God, and in communion with each other. Even in God, Whose image we are made in, there is communion within Himself…Father, Son and Holy Spirit….Three in One.
So, why do I hesitate? Partially because my sarcastic attitude reaches out to myself most often. I feel like if I’m around people long enough, they will find out I’m a fraud, not worthy, not good enough. Music? I fake my way through so much, it’s like a new song by the time I’m done. A thirty plus year journey of working in Accounting Departments? I flunked Basic College Math in college. Christian? Let’s just say when Paul said “I do that which I would not do”, I totally get it.
So,
it’s easier to hide. Be the anonymous Facebook voyeur. Even posting a blog is a little out of my
comfort zone. But I am called to sing songs God has given me. Called to speak
in public, when He presents an opportunity. To share, to the best of my
understanding, the Word He gives my heart to share.
Good friends that I know see my faults, and care anyway.
Churches whose purpose is to save the world around them, not pronounce judgement. (C. S. Lewis expounded “Mere Christianity”. That is, not “Christianity and” whatever popular cause or concern. Christianity and Social Justice, Christianity and Crime, Christianity and Nationalism. All good, but when the cause overtakes the Christianity, then both are lost.)
My sweet Camp Bluebird, where the bond is love of each other, in spite of all differences. Maybe even because of.
We must commune together, it is only right. We must also be willing to accept, and love each other. See their faults, true, but as Thomas Merton said, see beyond that to the God inside them. Love them. Just as He loves us, His created, and He in us as well.
We
are one in the Spirit.
We
are one in the Lord.
We
are one in the Spirit.
We
are one in the Lord.
And
we pray that all unity will one day be restored.
And
they’ll know we are Christians by our love. By our Love.
Yes,
they’ll know we are Christians by our love.
Amen
