“So Joshua did as Moses told him:

he engaged Amalek in battle

after Moses had climbed to the top of the hill with Aaron and Hur.

As long as Moses kept his hands raised up,

Israel had the better of the fight,

but when he let his hands rest,

Amalek had the better of the fight.

Moses' hands, however, grew tired;

so they put a rock in place for him to sit on. 

Meanwhile Aaron and Hur supported his hands,

one on one side and one on the other,

so that his hands remained steady till sunset.”

“Jesus told his disciples a parable

about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.”

We are better together! On my backpacking trip last year to the Eagle Cap Wilderness in the Wallowa Mountains in Oregon with my cousin and another friend, we spent a lot of time together, but occasionally broke off to do our own thing, use our own equipment, and chart our own path to eventually meet up again as a group. It was a new experience for me, although not totally without merit. As an introvert (with developed extrovert skills, according to Myers-Briggs), I am comfortable with and love solitude. My training, however, through Boy Scouts and in the Air Force, has always emphasized the value of being a crew, unit, or team. No one gets left behind. You only hike as fast as your slowest member. Equipment, food, and supplies are distributed according to capacity to carry, not just equally. We achieve our goals together through shared effort and responsibility. It is about all of us reaching the summit, not just me alone. 

While Jesus’s parable has important insight for our individual and personal persistence in prayer, the Old Testament reading from Exodus gives us an insight into persistence, as well. How do we persevere without growing weary? In this story, the key to Israel’s defense against the attack of Amalek was Moses and his intercession with God on their behalf holding up the staff of God in his hand. As long as he kept his hands raised, the Israelites were successful in battle, but Moses grew weary. Aaron and Hur first got a rock for Moses to sit upon. When that wasn’t sufficient, they then held up his his hands for him and Israel was granted victory. We all need friends who support us. We need each other. In the Book of Ecclesiastes we can read, “Two are better than one: They get a good wage for their toil. If the one falls, the other will help the fallen one. But woe to the solitary person! If that one should fall, there is no other to help…Where one alone may be overcome, two together can resist. A three-ply cord is not easily broken.” Our own strength and individual path can get us so far, but we share a mission, purpose, responsibility, and destiny. Especially when we grow weary, we need each other. 

We need community. As a crew, unit, or team, we can accomplish more than we ever could alone. In the journey of faith, especially when challenges come, we need friends who can find a stone for us to sit on or are willing to hold up our hands when we grow weary. That means we also need to be good friends in times of trial for others. We need to find stones and lift up arms. We need communion. We need to be loved and to love. We are better together!