A brother in adversity
In light of today蘑菇视频 current sharp political divide, it becomes especially enlightening, and even encouraging to see recently what unites us. You can view this as either fortunate, or unfortunate. Maybe both.
Excerpts from my recent book follow:
All you have to do is observe the general population蘑菇视频 reaction(s) to adversity. Witness a nation after a terrorist attack on its homeland. An attack on one is an attack on all. All of a sudden, so many differences were automatically dispelled by the more immediate bond of 鈥淲e are under attack.鈥� Notice the 鈥渨e鈥�? Signifying the unity of us. One nation. More regionally, when a place has to face weather-related issues. When the floodwaters rise. When the tornado rips through. When the earthquake tremors finally die down. When the drought continues.
The people of a region have that as an experience that they are going through, and use that phrase as a sign of unity.
The experience becomes unifying, and then the stories of how the citizenry helped each other. How a population overcame. The news reports and newspaper articles tell the tales of involvement. Word spreads of good deeds performed. Adversity comes toward the larger groups, such as nations and states, right on down to the smaller groups: churches, families and neighborhoods.
How people pull together for one another for the benefit of one another is what bonds and unifies, and also is what builds lasting relationships.
Think about how churches pull together when it comes time for a church expansion program, or a building project. Or how a church pulls together if they are the victims of arson. One example: A church was the victim of flooding, and other churches, not even of the same denomination yet in the same community, gave monetary gifts to help them out.
Think about how neighborhoods pull together for block parties, crime watches and for their local school sports teams. Something that we come together for with the purpose of achieving a goal and/or overcoming some obstacle. And then we can refer to that event in the past that forged relationships. Because there was an understanding that we were in it together. The Identity of Us (We).
Look at the understandable tightening of a family unit when adversity strikes. When the doctor reports that someone in the family now has a hardcore illness, our family unit feels threatened, because if one of our own is threatened, then we are also. They are part of what we are a part of. The family. The family members are alerted, spiritual tension rises and internal alarm mechanisms are sounded due to the truth that it蘑菇视频 one of us.
It is the 鈥渦s鈥� that is threatened. You see, the 鈥渦s鈥� is an identity. So, when one of 鈥渦s鈥� is threatened, then what is under attack is an identity. The identity that is recognized as We. Or the identity of us. And it doesn鈥檛 matter who makes up the We, or Us, as long as there are people who recognize We, or Us, as an identity.
Including God in 鈥淲e鈥�: But this isn鈥檛 really the crux of our problem. Most people don鈥檛 necessarily want or even need someone to fix their situation. They just want someone to understand them and to go through it with them. They don鈥檛 want to stand in the corner alone, or to be in isolation. They want to establish and maintain some form of identity of Us. They want and need someone to be there with them.
And quite honestly, most people want to know that God is there, and they want him to be part of the identity of Us. That we 鈥� and 鈥渨e鈥� includes God 鈥� are going through this together. God is close to us. He is only a prayer away from involvement.
So we talk to Him, thereby establishing and continuing with the identity of Us, with God being part of the Us. This includes individuals, couples, families, communities, nations, and whatever configurations and perspectives of the identity of Us that there are (Excerpts ended.)
Proverbs 17:17 states that 鈥淎 friend loveth at all times and a brother is born for adversity.鈥� (King James version)