Together

"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together".

 

I was recently at a conference for leaders where I heard David Gergen, press secretary to presidents, say this. The longer I thought about it, the more weight it had.

 

We are loner society. Our icon is the lone cowboy on the open range. Beholding to no one. Self-sufficient. Invincible. But, alas, untrue. Icons always move us but, sometime, icons, lie. In this case, we lie to each other.

 

How do I know this? Because God says so. God saves a people, not a confederacy of individuals. Ben Franklin, not God, said, "God helps those who help themselves." Read our baptismal vows and what do we find? We are utter dependent, not only on God, but on each other. Paul says we are body of people. Ignore one person, have one person go off and "do her own thing," and we have an ill and soon dead body. "One another" is one of the most uttered phrases in the Bible. God is love and love isn't done in a vacuum. Jesus promises to be in the midst of "two or more."

 

The "loner" is a seductive icon but a dead end. "If I want it done right, I'll do it myself," is the mantra of a dying person.

 

Are people messy? Do they let us down? Are they just downright weird and unpleasant at times? You bet! But, they are imperative to life. God says so. God wants us to go far.

 

Today, resist going it alone. Who (besides family and friends) are your lifelines? To whom are you a lifeline? We are in this together. God says so and he made it all.

 

Go far!