(Hint: Power Up)
Deep in the heart of Texas, a deep freeze gripped the Lone Star State. A one-hundred-year ice storm left virtually the entire state without water, food and power. Not quite. When the electric grid failed, a different power kicked in.
To rescue the stranded, Nars Buenaventura of Tyler, Texas, along with his group of friends who all owned four-wheel Jeeps, patrolled the back roads of East Texas taking people to warmer places, brought first-responders to work, towed motorists out of deep ditches. “If we go out there and lend a hand maybe they will help someone else down the road as well,” Buenaventura said.
Chef José Andrés—not from these Texas parts—took his World Central Kitchen to Houston, where he partnered with Burns BBQ to make more than 700 chopped beef sandwiches that were delivered to Houston seniors.
Down in the Rio Grande Valley, US Border Patrol agents rescued 23 migrants—from as far away as Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala—exposed to freezing Texas temperatures. Some, lost in the brush and frost-bitten, required immediate relief and hospitalization.
At work is a power—the power of community, that sense of brotherhood that resides in the heart of men where “two is better than one” according to the book of Ecclesiastes. While the writer, Solomon, first paints a cynical look at the futility of life, his concluding summation when you look at the entire picture, gives us hope that that men who revere God have a powerful response to the vicissitudes of life—community.
First, there is power in COMMUNITY labor. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10) Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. 10 For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. East Texans stuck in ditches had a helping hand from fellow East Texans. The expectation is that down the road a lifting hand will be reciprocated. We all need help; we all can help.
Second, there is power in COMMUNITY compassion. (Ecclesiastes 4:11) Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? A high-profiled chef from the East and a good old boy from the Lone Star State have one thing in common—the capacity for compassion. An empty stomach and storms that empty them have no borders. We all can have empathy for the needy and the power to respond when we see everyone as one.
Finally, there is power in Community protection. Ecclesiastes 4:12 And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart. Border patrolmen and migrants share one thing—they all want the best for their children. Being out in the cold is not good for any child, no matter their documentation. When we see other people’s children through a community lens, we all are three-strand stronger.
Solomon, after 222 verses, came to a conclusion:
The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. 14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden,
whether it is good or evil. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
In other words, every act of community, where “two is better than one”, is a power grid of love no storm can extinguish, no ice can cripple, no matter what state you are in.
If you need any more proof of the power of community, meet Clyde Joshua Passman who came into a pandemic world with no electricity or running water; just a mom, a dad, a midwife and a will to work in concert to defy life-stealing odds. A cord of three strands is stronger.
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