We Need Each Other

On one of the rare days in which it was nice enough to go out of town, Wanda and I went to Pierre.  We did a little shopping, and while we were in the check-out line we started talking to the people in front of us.  We were commiserating about the weather, which of course has not been very good for some time now.  After we’d complained about it for a while, one of them said, “I wonder what people do in San Diego to make conversation.  The weather’s always the same there!”

Now, I’ve never been to San Diego, so I don’t know if that’s literally true.  But they certainly don’t get the variation that we do, and it does at least give us something to talk about.  Not only does it give us something to talk about, it gives us something in common.  Even my friends who say they like winter are getting tired of it at this point.

Chatting about the weather may seem like a trivial thing, but it’s important.  It helps us make a connections with someone, and it’s important for us, as human beings, to make connections with each other.  We are not just isolated individuals going through life alone.  Some people enjoy solitude, of course, and there’s nothing wrong with that.  But none of us can live our lives completely apart and separate from the rest of society.  Not if we want to do something productive with our lives, anyway.  If we want to do something positive, we need to be connected to other people.

It seems to me that God made us that way deliberately.  God made us with a need to have other people in our lives.  Again, it’s fine to enjoy your own company.  I’m not saying anyone has to be around people all the time.  But we do need to have other people in our lives.  That’s why God put us into groups, such as families, communities, and churches.  God did that so we could all help each other and support each other and encourage each other.  God did that so that, when we need someone, we’ll have someone.  We all need to know that there’s someone who will be there for us when we need them.

And there are times when other people need us, too.  There are times when we need to be the one who helps someone, who supports someone, who encourages someone.  There are times when we need to be the one who’s there for someone else.

There are always ways in which we can do that.  What those ways are will be different for each of us.  Some of you can do a lot of things.  Some of you can do really big things, and that’s great.  I hope you will do them.  Some of you can do smaller things, and that’s great, too.  I hope you will do them.  All of us need to do whatever we can to help and support and encourage each other, whether they are big things or small things.  

I know that some of you, reading this, cannot do the things you used to do.  I know that’s frustrating for you.  But while you cannot do all the things you used to do, there are still some things you can do.  You can listen when someone needs to talk.  You can give someone an encouraging word, or even an encouraging smile.  You can give someone a compliment.  You can tell someone a joke to make them smile. 

There are all kinds of things you can do.  Maybe they seem like simple things.  Maybe they seem like they’re not important.  But small, simple things can be the most important at all.  Mark Twain once said, “I can live for two months on a good compliment.”  

This week, every day, try to do or say something to show someone you care.  Whether it’s a great, big thing or a small, simple thing, do or say something to show someone you care.  Do or say something to show someone you’re there for them.  If we all did that, over time it would make a pretty big difference to the people around us.  It might even spread to other people.  In fact, if enough of us did it, it might even change the world.  That may sound far-fetched, and maybe it is.  But remember, with God, all things are possible.