The next couple of months are going to be an exciting time for our family as we prepare for our daughter’s wedding. It hardly seems possible. It feels like only yesterday that we were bringing her home as a baby. Then came school, growing independence, a move to Manchester, and later Wales, where she found a job she loves and the man she is soon to marry.
As any parent will tell you, the years have a habit of speeding up. Children who once needed help tying their shoelaces somehow become adults making lives of their own. I have already been given strict instructions that my speech at the wedding must be short. My daughter knows me far too well. A shorter speech means less opportunity for her dad to reveal childhood secrets or tell embarrassing stories! As I was thinking about what I might say, I found myself reflecting on some words from the Bible:“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labour: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)
At first, my thoughts naturally turned to marriage. A good marriage is a partnership. Life brings challenges, but having someone alongside you to encourage and support you is a wonderful gift. Yet the more I reflected on those words, the more I realised they speak about something much wider than marriage alone. They remind us that none of us were designed to do life in isolation. We all need people around us. Friends who encourage us when life is difficult. Neighbours who lend a hand when we need practical help. People who notice when we are struggling and take the time to ask how we are really doing.
That thought was brought home to me recently while I was sitting in a treatment centre waiting for an appointment. Nearby were two elderly gentlemen chatting together. Both had lost their wives and, through their shared experience of grief, had become close friends. They were talking about plans for a holiday they hoped to take once one of them had finished cancer treatment. On the surface they looked an unlikely pair, but there was an obvious bond between them. There was friendship, mutual support, and genuine care. They had found someone who understood their journey and was willing to walk alongside them.
As I listened, I realised I was seeing a living example of those ancient words from Ecclesiastes. When one was struggling, the other was there. When one needed encouragement, the other provided it. Quite simply, two were better than one.
The truth is that all of us need somebody. We all need friendship, companionship and community.
If you have been feeling lonely or would like to meet new people, why not try one of the many groups that meet in our village? You might even like to pop along to The Gathering Place on a Wednesday afternoon. You will find a warm welcome, a friendly chat, and perhaps the beginning of a friendship that reminds you, as those two gentlemen reminded me, that two really are better than one.
