The Odd Couple


Each one helps the other,
    saying to one another, “Take courage!”
The artisan encourages the goldsmith,
    and the one who smooths with the hammer encourages the one who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
and they fasten it with nails so that it cannot be moved. ~ Isaiah 41:6-7
Strength lies in differences, not similarities. ~ Stephen Covey
One of my favorite things in "buddy" movies or TV shows is when two unlikely heroes - men or women who are completely different - join together to solve the problem at hand.  When their two different types of gifts work in concert to bring about change or hope or justice.  My all time favorites are Mulder and Scully from the X-Files, he, a believer in the power of the supernatural, and she, a scientific sceptic.  

But there are others: Murtaugh and Riggs in the Lethal Weapon films; Oscar and Felix in the Odd Couple; Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson; Kirk and Spock...I'm sure you have your own favorites.

The trope of the odd couple is successful I think because we see in it a completion.  We know that on their own, the individuals probably wouldn't succeed as well as they would together; that somehow, their disparate partner makes something new possible.  It is more than opposites attract.  It is opposites working together to make something whole.

Wholeness is God's intent for creation, and here, in one of Isaiah's encouraging words of God's promise for God's people, we see that creation is made complete when we are somehow working with those who think differently than we do.

Who work differently than we do.

Who act differently than we do.

An artist and a laborer together can make gold into something more beautiful together than apart.  There is a time for the hammer, and there is a time for the soldering iron.

We live in a world where most people tend to flock more with those like themselves than those who are different.  We tend to be drawn more to ideas and beliefs that we already have than new ideas that might challenge or alarm us into a new way of thinking or being.

God however has a more complete view of creation. God sees the whole and invites us - challenges us, calls us - to see more of creation than is in our own small world as well.

That might mean trying something new.  Listening to an idea you find challenging or threatening.  Being part of a different group or confronting yourself with a new reality.

When you do, you can be sure that God is there, ready to hold you and comfort you and prepare you for what might come of it.


God of ALL creation, help us to seek wholeness in all things, even when it means challenging ourselves to new ideas and meeting new people who may be very different from ourselves.  Amen.

Thoughts for engagement:

- Was there a time you worked with someone very different from yourself for the successful completion of a project?
- What are some things you have learned from people who are difference from you?
- How might God be calling the church to be different?

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