The Plumbline

Cherish your human connections: your relationships with friends and family.  (Joseph Brodsky) Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12) As we continue on with our new year's goals, it is important to consider the status of our relationships. If you are a little bit of a loner, you might want to change that perspective this year. It may not be easy to enter into relationships because you are bit shy, introverted, or just haven't had the best of luck with others over the course of time. Whatever the reason for attempting to walk this day-to-day relationship with ...

All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too. ( 2 Corinthians 1:3-4   MSG ) We probably all have heard that old English proverb, "Misery loves company", but does it really 'love it'? Back some time ago, I came across some research attempting to see if people who spend a good deal of time together actually influence the 'moods' of the other individual. They attempted to see if one depressed individual in the relationship did more to bring down the other individual, or if the opposite would be true and the other brought t...