Companionship Is with More than People

As I prepare to leave for work, I'm checking my email, viewing my Home page for the latest news - No repeat of the Red Sox's come from behind 0 - 3 to clinck the World Series - updating my Avantgo information onto my PocketPC, I'm also checking out a new browser called FLOCK. It has a built in BLOG interface, so that from the browser menu I have access to my blog account. The release is still beta, but what I have learned through the years is that technology is not an enemy but a friend of companionship. In my pocket I carry all of my contact information, several Bibles, a dictionary, national and international news, a permanent notepad, a calendar, calculator, expense record, games, biographies, novels, 911 Report, . . . (should I stop?).

Several years ago I was challenged by a book, Executive Coach, to embrace growth, especially growth in technology. We ended up buying a computer (486SX25) with 4 MB of RAM and a 85MB hard drive; later upgraded to a 550 MB drive ($200!!!!) and more RAM (4 MB for $205!!!!). The internet opened, more new things, and now I work full-time in the information technology arena while maintaining a public Christian ministry in the States and in India!

Oh, sure, I've wasted hours exploring things, trying to speed things up only to return to the beginning, but using the tools available I have grown into new areas with near instant contact with friends from around the world. In 11 days I'll be uniting with friends in India, having maintained companionship with them through the internet.

Closing thought - centuries ago, Balaam was aided by his beast of burden - a donkey - who warned him of pending danger. The beast has changed, but we can all benefit from companioning with the tools around us.

Two Are Better than One

Not long ago Marigene came down with a viral sickness that laid her up for several days. I was reminded of a similar illness that I suffered last November, and of her tireless service to me. (I hope she would say that I reciprocated in kind!) This thing hit me rather suddenly, and when I arrived home before noon, she wanted to know if we should drive immediately to the doctor's. I said, "I'm so sick, I can't wait in a doctor's office!" Instead I collapsed in bed where I remained for two days before finally going to see the doctor. It was a week before I began to feel better.

Marigene tended to me night and day, doing the littlest things to comfort me. And shrugging off the shortness of my words knowing that "something bad" was working in me. During more lucid moments I thought, "How do single people survive these ordeals? I'd have to check myself into the hospital because I cannot care for myself!" Her care revealed a new dimension of companionship - it's not what we get from partnering with others, it is what we need. We jeopardize our longevity and effectiveness by going it alone.

Centuries ago Solomon wrote,

It's better to have a partner than go it alone.
Share the work, share the wealth.
And if one falls down, the other helps,
But if there's no one to help, tough!
Two in a bed warm each other.
Alone, you shiver all night.
By yourself you're unprotected.
With a friend you can face the
worst. Can you round up a third?
A three-stranded rope isn't easily
snapped.

Eccl 4:9-12 (The Message)

I am challenged anew to identify and develop companionships in advance of the falls, the cold, and the attacks. I am challenged to examine my heart for self-sufficiency and independence, and to flee them with vigor.

My Elect Lady and Me 

In the Beginning . . .

These words trace their origins to the Earth's beginnings (Genesis 1:1). They are repeated in John's account of the Life and Ministry of Jesus Christ - In the beginning was the Word . . . (John 1:1). Today they mean the beginning of my journey into cyberspace - that region beyond my "space." I'm not the pioneer in this territory; it is all new to me!

This blog - The Companions - expresses my need for partnership in my spiritual journey with God. It comes from the relationship that four young men developed while serving as captives in a foreign land. (Daniel 1) At first, their friendship was for moral support to sustain deeply held beliefs and convictions. It became the life-preserving bond that enabled them to endure periods of persecution and near death. Through their companionship they experienced great comfort, mighty deliverances, and powerful demonstrations from the God they chose to honor and obey.

My heart's cry is for Companions who I can join with, and who can join with me, in pursuit of the Living God. Are there such people out "there"? Then, welcome! And let us explore together the width and length and depth and height of God's love through Jesus Christ.