The new corporate buzzword is partnership. Partners pulling together to serve the customer better and, of course, make more money. The size of multinational corporations today makes this type of approach daunting. Sheer miles, differing personal and corporate cultures, different customer obligations and priorities, along with normal personality variations keep the scene lively. While the rhetoric is building, the results are still somewhere out in space with many of us trying to catch just one glimpse.
In my own efforts to build partnerships, I find the initial steps rather daunting. Some people I approach do not believe we are coming from the same background. Others take the view that my goal will invalidate their own mission. There are still others trying to inflict as much pain as possible on everyone around them. The effort captures all aspects of life in a small nutshell.
The reality is that you and I are partners in the journey of life and in our relationships with God. We share the same background. We come with the same credentials and qualifications. My true mission in life, what God designed me to do, is the same as yours. And I believe that each of us want to experience the most happiness possible and avoid the most pain possible as we take our steps. In short, we are on the same path, for the same reason, headed in the same direction, with very similar issues that have the same root cause. Regardless of our interest in working together, we can only help each other if we are true to our purpose.
I find my own struggle to understand God and the situation clouding the picture. The facts are stark and uncompromising. “So death, this huge abyss separating us from God, dominated the landscape from Adam to Moses. Even those who didn’t sin precisely as Adam did by disobeying a specific command of God still had to experience this termination of life, this separation from God.” (Romans 5.14)
Today, I look out through the Irish midst, and thank God, I know I have partners.
