StickingTogether

In church last Sunday I was struck by the fresh idea of the communion prayer:

“As we break bread today remember the brokenness throughout the world;  as we pour wine today remember the blood shed throughout the world...”

Brokenness. Not whole. Apart.

I am reminded that we are often in disagreement. We continually argue our points of difference not our points of agreement. There is much we share. There is a universe of agreement we live within. Why then emphasize the differentness?

This quote is from the Internet and anonymous as well:

“One day someone is going to hug you so tight, that all of your broken pieces will stick back together.”

Nice thought, isn't it? By coming together for a hug, we are made whole somehow. We have shared our separate beings and become a unified whole in some way. And mended our pieces, too.

If we apply this to any specific issue we may gain strength. Let’s try it on this quote from John Green:

“Public education does not exist for the benefit of students or for the benefit of their parents. It exists for the benefit of the social order.

We have discovered as a species that it is useful to have an educated population. You do not need to be a student or have a child who is a student to benefit from public education. Every second of every day of your life, you benefit from public education.

So let me explain why I like to pay taxes for schools, even though I don’t personally have a kid in school: it’s because I don’t like living in a country with a bunch of stupid people.”

I like this statement. A little harsh at the end, but true nonethesame. At times we paid taxes grudgingly because we knew the system would take care of our kids when they enrolled in school. After that it was for our grand kids. At one time it was for myself as I studied throughout the system through grad school. The taxes didn't go away because we were not benefiting or participating in the schools directly. We continued to pay because the role of education goes on and on, preparing generation after generation in ways to think and be fulfilled and to enable the continuity of our social order.

We are not islands. We co-exist – sometimes near and sometimes far. But what we do, say and learn is of benefit to everyone. It is part of the ‘infrastructure’ we all rely on. We pay for it separately and together to make the future possible.

Sticking together is one pathway to success. It shares ideas and strengths, it works to avoid shared weaknesses to find make new strengths. It is also a means to discover new opportunities, even to recognize they exist. And together we come together to build defenses against the common threats which surely exist throughout the world. Even in our own neighborhoods.

This is not socialism. Rather it is cooperation and collaboration. Competition may be good in many ways but it is also a man-made means of separating groups into us and them – apartness institutionalized. Beware what this can do.

Motivation is a funny thing. It may energize an individual to excel at what he or she does in life. But it can also maroon the same person to an island of self centeredness and self destruction. Serving others and relying on their generous natures provides another form of motivation.

It is of long-lasting value that rewards each of us. Seek that to mend your broken pieces.

November 13, 2013