Life Is Better Together

I like Jack Johnson.  He’s got that singer-songwriter thing I have always enjoyed.  Simple.  Catchy.  Meaningful.  He paints with his words.  This is perhaps what I appreciate most about his music.  They are a form of storytelling I resonate with.

I’ve returned recently to one of my favorite Jack Johnson songs, “Better Together”.

Better together.  It’s the heartbeat of what I write here.  It’s the vision which drives my ministry.  It’s a call to action.  It’s a hope.

Here’s how Mr. Johnson’s song starts…

“There’s no combination of words
I could put on the back of a postcard
No song that I could sing
But I can try for your heart and our dreams
And they are made out of real things
Like a shoebox of photographs with sepia-tone lovin’
Love is the answer, at least for most of the questions in my heart
Like why are we here? and where do we go? and how come it’s so hard?
It’s not always easy and sometimes life can be deceiving
I’ll tell you one thing
It’s always better when we’re together”

Is that good, or what?

“Love is the answer, at least for most of the questions in my heart
Like why are we here?  and where do we go? and how come it’s so hard?”

In case you haven’t heard this story, here’s a version I enjoy.

Life is better together.

It is also more complicated and more likely we’ll get hurt, but it is better.

Better to share.
Better to give.
Better to listen.
Better to grieve.
Better to play.
Better to dream.
Better to work.
Better to raise kids.
Better to worship.
Better to heal.
Better to laugh.
Better to simply be.

Together.

Because together draws us outside of ourselves and this is the way we grow.  Because together challenges us to think differently and to defend our thoughts and this is how we learn.  Because together combines our strengths and weaknessness and it is in this way we do more and achieve more and risk more than we could on our own.

Most importantly, together is where love lives.  Together is a reflection of God.  Together is relationship and relationship is the goal of this crazy thing we call life.

If you find yourself thinking you can do life on your own (you probably can), I want you to know there is another way…a better way, I believe.  It’s you and me and the rest of us together.  Not so sure?  Listen to the song a few more times, it’s working for me.

Life is better together,
Shawn