meditation on mid-terms #2

Note: Today the labyrinth will be set up in the Fireplace lounge, MBSC. Please join us and take a walk and help yourself focus and gain a deeper spirituality.

Meditation on Mid terms #2

There’s a lot of admiration in our culture about people who are stars. We are a country of entertainment stars, athletic stars, and educational stars. People are picked out and adored by the masses. People stand in line to get tickets to appearances. That’s why we have the Qwest Center—so we can have space for the stars and their adoring folks. Hannah Montana is coming to Omaha! The Olympic swim trials are coming to Omaha! Warren Buffet is coming to Omaha! Gerald Ford was born in Omaha! Mrs. B built a store in Omaha! Success is running rampant! Stars are everywhere! Woohoo! People want to worship these stars, or they want to be the stars themselves.

Taking a difference view is the idea that individuals do not and cannot make the kind of impact groups of people can. In the video of how the Travelling Willbury’s made their album. George Harrison who commented toward the end of it: “It was just some friends coming together to make music who happen to be very good at what they do.”

In the end, it’s just some friends coming together.

There are a few Bible stories with heroes who act on their own (Samson and Jonah come to mind, along with Elijah under a broom tree I Kgs. 19.4)) but the vast majority of these hope bearing folks were part of a group. Even God is quoted as saying , “Let us make mankind in our image,” (Gen. 1:26).

The stronger and more lasting Biblical image, I think, is of groups of people of faith, not individuals with power. Certainly, there are individuals who lead, have prominent roles, and are more visible, but even they rely on being with others for strength and courage. While the individual’s heart and mind can be formidable, faith is not a strictly individual business. Jesus stood and knelt alone at times, but he always traveled in a group. The twelve disciples were part of the fabric of his life and the life of the early churches across the region. It’s hard to imagine the spread of Christianity in those without it being a group event.

It is well to rely on good friends who come together, whether for study for worship, or as George Harrison said, to make music (Or anything else, for that matter).

Mark 5
5They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. 16Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. 17Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. 18As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. 19But Jesus refused, and said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.” 20And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.


Who are your friends? How do they strengthen you and you them? Do you study with them? Do they encourage you? How do they persuade you in your faith?