Guard was alongside of guard: - 1 Chronicles 26:16b

Today's Scripture Reading (September 17, 2022): 1 Chronicles 26

In "Ender's Game," Orson Scott Card writes, "If you try and lose then it isn't your fault. But if you don't try and we lose, then it's all your fault." I have always been attracted to team games. I love challenges where it isn't all about you but where it takes a team to win. I am also pretty competitive; I don't mind losing as long as I feel that the team gave everything it had in the effort to play the game. So, I agree with Card; there is no shame in failure unless you fail because you don't try. I don't think that we fail often enough, usually because we are afraid to try things at which we might fail or refuse to push our boundaries. I have always hated the phrase "it's only a game" because it was usually used as an excuse for not trying. But more importantly, I get a lot of satisfaction about achieving something that could not be accomplished outside of the team. Accomplishing something because I tried is satisfying, but not nearly as satisfying as doing something that could not be achieved unless the team is working well and pulling in the same direction.

I have always believed that our spirituality is not an individual pursuit but something we do together. However, we have lost that concept in our individualistic society, where everything seems to be about us. But the most satisfying pursuits are those we do with other people (and I write this as one who actually enjoys the idea of "alone time").

As a result, I have always believed that we should do "everything by team." Regardless of how small, every task should be done by at least two people. Success is never a matter of I; it is because we tried and succeeded. If we try and fail, I am okay with that. But if we succeed, it will only be because we did it together.

The various tasks of Jerusalem were chosen by lot. The great served alongside the small as various gatekeepers were assigned to the gates, but they were never posted alone. Guard served alongside guard, and watchmen served alongside watchmen. Families served together, and the Levites were assigned in even numbers so that no one would have to carry out any task by themselves. The team would experience every success, and every failure would have a backup. These teams gave the nation great strength, supporting an idea that the author writes of in Ecclesiastes. "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken" (Ecclesiastes 4:12).

Today's Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 27