I grew up thinking that one should be able to handle one’s life. In my young mind’s way of thinking, this meant that I should be able to handle everything. As I looked around me, my older and wiser heroes seemed to mirror exactly what I needed to be. Self-contained, team players yet able to do it all on their own, and willing to march on standing tall, even if it meant that they were an army of one.
As I look back I wonder why my thoughts were not challenged. Now that I am able to see more completely, I do not think my youthful vision was ever accurate. Yes, I heard the message of my elders. However, I heard their words through the eyes and hears of a boy longing to be all that his heroes represented in his mind. Wise, strong, and perfect in the ways that mattered. The flaws that he could see only served to emphasize the strengths in his mind.
As good as each was, I look back with a sense of sadness. Each could have been so much more! For all of my insight, in too many ways I have become that generation! I hope that I can embrace the lessons they left for me. Their stories, celebrations, and values take me to the fresh opportunities we have today.
We can be an integral part of a greater whole. The psalmist called to action is till with us; “Round up an orchestra to play for God, add on a hundred-voice choir.” (Psalm 98.5) our voices can join the choir. We can link our hands with others. Our strengths covering their weaknesses, their hope our despair, and together we can do more than anyone can imagine.
We can cover each other’s backs, protecting each other from the outside and even from within. The power of a group lifting up the one changes everything. In giving we open a door to receiving.
Every step together is a reason to celebrate. Even as a chapter ends, new ones begin.
