There are occasional passages of the Old Testament in the Bible that describe the Israelites spending long periods, even years, wandering in the wilderness. At first thought that seems surprising because even though they were in a strange land, the territory was so small that traveling by foot in almost any direction would permit them to leave any wilderness in at most a few weeks. Apparently the problem was that they hadn’t learned how to move as an organized unit. Everyone probably wanted to go different directions at their own pace. They hadn’t learned to work together and help those who had difficulty traveling.
Jesus Christ, whose birthday we will soon celebrate, taught by his lifestyle and speech that every human life is important and teamwork is vital. It has taken us over two thousand years to internalize those lessons and as a result human history contains many periods of wandering in the wilderness. Jesus was trying to teach us that if the path into the future is unfamiliar then it is important to work together as a team and help those having difficulty.
In our world today many countries, including the U.S., are traveling through unfamiliar financial territory with stock markets surging up one day and down the next. Rather than continuing to fight over what to do, we will get out of the wilderness quicker if a reasonable direction is chosen, even if it isn’t the best, and everyone works together to make it successful. A beautiful world is evolving, but it requires all of us pulling together.
Robert C. Frank
Author of: Christ’s Team
