Art for Jesus - in Japan

Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:

If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!

Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?

Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

"Christ as the Pillar of Relationship"
Scott Arany

My partner and I are standing on the ground. We both have firm and secure footing on the ground (which represents Christ). Facing each other, we reach our arms out and hold hands. The holding of hands represents our relationship together. We hold hands in mid-air with nothing for support except our own arms. We can't let the hands fall apart and separate because that would break the handhold and thus the relationship). But what is holding this relationship up and keeping it together? Only our own strength. Even though our feet are grounded in Christ, eventually our arms will grow tired and need rest. We don't have the strength to hold our hands like this for a long time. The relationship will be broken even though we had our feet on Christ.

As we start to grow tired, we realize that we need something to support our hands. But now it's too late to go reaching for that support. To do so would involve letting go of each other. It's physically impossible to build a support now and still maintain the handhold.

Now we need to start the "relationship" over again. We let go and bring a pillar to set between us. Like the ground, the pillar also represents Christ. Again, we reach out and hold hands, resting our hands upon the top of the pillar. This relationship no longer depends on human strength for support. Nor is there a need to break apart to search for support; the two of us are supported from the very beginning. In this position we can hold hands for a very long time without growing weary.

Never start a relationship without the pillar in place. Never move the pillar. So long as we rest in Christ together our relationship will not falter. The foundation of our relationship shouldn't be about *making* God our support -- He should *already* BE our support. Even though our own personal bodies are supported by the rock of Christ, we too often trust in the strength of our arms to hold-up a relationship in mid-air. Christ is to be the rock for both our feet (personal walk and faith) and our hands (shared walk and faith).