“Two are a good thing, more so than one alone; because, there is great reward in their work. If one of them falls, the other will help them stand. If there’s no one else, who will help them rise” (Ecclesiastes 4.10)?
On 10 June 1994 the movie Speed hit theaters. Starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, it became the fifth-highest grossing film of that year. Who knew taking the bus could be so exciting.
Reeves plays bomb squad officer Jack Traven who, having foiled a hostage attempt by a mysterious individual is informed that one of the local city busses has been rigged to explode. His former partner now on desk duty, Jack identifies and boards the bus too late to stop the bomb from being armed and has to respond to one problem after another as the vehicle and its passengers tries to keep going fifty-miles-per-hour.
Jack Traven is a typical action movie hero. He’s smart, brave, and willing to put himself in harm’s way to protect people. He has a team of course, an entire department of capable and intelligent officers who are there to help him every step of the way. But, Jack is the one who comes up with the ideas that keep everyone alive—jumping the gap in the freeway, heading to an airport runway to reduce the danger. And like any action hero we see on the lighted screen, we thank God he was in the right place at the right time. Otherwise, no one else would have been smart enough to save the day.
I say that with full awareness that I have always been caught up in the fantasy of this type of hero. To be that lone figure who, alone, can rescue the hostages, solve the problem is romantic. It plays into all my insecurities and my ego. And it has, often, made life so much harder.
These words from the mysterious Teacher behind the book of Ecclesiastes stand in contrast to this idea of the lone hero. Two are good. They can help one another if they fall. In other words, they can complement one another, leaning their weaknesses on another’s strengths.
But more than this is the idea that there is this great reward, this great treasure when we do not go it alone. Practically, two can finish a task faster, but this isn’t about productivity. It’s about what I never realized I was missing over so much of my life.
As their speeding bus continues across the city, we notice the chemistry bubbling between Annie—who has found herself at the wheel of the bus—and Jack. They become partners, each coming to rely on the other in this extraordinary situation. And this task, this work uncovers something I doubt Jack ever expected. Joy.
Maybe, like me, Jack discovered that the Teacher’s words about two being better than one is about more than shared labor. It’s about the joy that comes when you find that not only did you not have to go it alone, but that it was so much more satisfying to share it with someone, to depend and rely upon someone besides yourself.
Jesus, companion and friend, too often I think I can go it alone, that you formed me to be a solitary figure in this wild and dangerous world. Yet, you have reminded me again and again that not only am I made to need others but that I become more of who I can be when I dare to share the tasks, the sorrows, and the beauty in each day.