BETTER TOGETHER

“We’re better together”—throughout the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve repeatedly heard this phrase. I even thought of it one day an errand took us to a wooded area and I noticed a wildflower that illustrated the power of “together.”  I’m guessing this is yarrow. I snapped photos of “loner” yarrow blooms, but the mature plants with clumped flowers were “prettier together.” On the way home, I thought how we're also encouraged to be more "alone" in practicing "safety distance" to prevent spread of the coronavirus. Yet that comes with an emotional price. We’re “better together” when we have “community.”

As Ecclesiastes 4:9-10* put it: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” Yes, “better together.”  Reaching back further in human history, when God gave Adam a help-mate, Eve, He created the first community—two who became three and more, and billions through history.

Sadly, sin messed up the concept. But God’s original “better together” (and better with Him as the binding material) never ceased to be...better.

Probably like anyone reading this blog, I struggle with the truth that sometimes we’re better apart. When persistent sin darkens a personality, we may be better “apart” until that person makes a 180-degree turn in his or her life and faith and seeks reconciliation.  We can’t be truly “better together” until our goals and relationships conform to God’s original plan of harmony. Peter put it in a nutshell in his letter to ancient churches:

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.  Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called. (1 Peter 3:8-9)

These are powerful words in light of the “evil with evil” and “insult with insult” that burned across our country in recent weeks.

Yet even with restricted public contact, “better together” is possible. Bless in creative ways, like a note or E-mail. One day when I was feeling a bit blue, two lifter-upper notes came by mail. (God has great timing in moving people to do something!) Or call somebody and say, “I’ve just been thinking about you and want to tell you how much you’re appreciated.”  Thank workers who must work. Even a little bloom of encouragement here and there can clump together in a beautiful bouquet. Like that forest yarrow—okay alone, better together.


(*Post script--a humorous aside on the Ecclesiastes verse.  Many years ago I attended a church in Fullerton, Calif., where I sang in a large, wonderful church choir. We practiced for months to present a sacred concert for hundreds of people. Our conductor at that time was losing weight, and constantly hiking up his trousers during rehearsals. Before the concert, we presented him with a gift: a pair of suspenders, and a card with that verse suggesting two suspenders were better than none. Oh, church humor. Forgive us.)