Live Together, Die Alone

I've got to admit, I'm a little excited. For the next few weeks, The Gate is going through a series about finding our way, using LOST as a backdrop. So, I'm excited because I have a chance to spout off on the show, and relive some of my favorite moments. Oh, yeah, and talk about the spiritual and philosphical blah, blah, blah.

(Seriously though, if you have never seen an episode, that's OK, I promise there will be something of value to you for the next few weeks. At least, something with a value similar to what you normally get here.)

Early in the first season, the castaways were still getting used to their new lives crash landed on the island. They came from very diverse backgrounds- an Iraqi Muslim, an addicted British Rock Star, a black New Yorker and the son he barely knew, a Korean couple- the husband in the mafia, rich white step siblings, a Hispanic lotto winner with bad luck, a southern con man, a Midwestern fugitive, a mysterous bald knife wielder and a surgeon with a fix-it complex. In the midst of creating their new society, there are hiccups. Culture clashes based on prejudices and percieved slights. Oh, and out and out theft, torture and beatings- just like real life, right?

In the midst of this, water runs out. Jack, the surgeon, runs off to find water and, well, his dead father that he seems to be noticing on the island. He returns to find a camp in turmoil, fighting amongst themselves, ready to lynch Boone, the rich white guy. Jack gives a famous speech about how they all got a fresh start, and how they had to learn to work with each other, to contribute to their new society. To "Live together, or die alone."

At the time, Jack meant physical "Live together, or die alone." They needed food and water and shelter, and they needed each other to do it. This theme returns often in the show as new obstacles pop up- like Others, Smoke Monsters, Freighter People, etc. It also returns in the way they come to need each other on a more personal, a more intimate level. They need people that will see them as they are, not for the show they put. They need people to fight for them, when they won't fight for themselves. Slowly, these totally different people begin to love each other.

Imagine we landed on an island. Well, really, just imagine your life. Most of us left High School and went to work or college or the military, and found ourselves surrounded by different people, new situations, and scary but promising opportunities. Some of the people we initially couldn't stand in our new 'island' lives eventually become dear friends. We changed, because we had a fresh start. These new people became the most important people to us, and we wondered how we ever got by without them.

I hope you have friends like these. They will call you on your phoniness. They will shout with joy with you, and shed their tears with you. They will pray for you, fighting spiritually and physically for you. They will sacrifice of themselves to see you survive and even thrive.

See, even loners need others. I like alone time. A lot. But if I don't spend time with people, let them in and involve myself with them, I lose my humanity, my compassion. I lose sight of the fact that I am still on this earth for the purpose of loving and serving others. The biggest loners on the island eventually become intrinsic parts of the island life- they found a way to contribute.

What about us? Do we contribute to our "island?" Do we pray for each other as we should? Do we really listen to each other? Do we defend each other's honor? We cannot live, truly live, without others. We will shrivel up, withdrawing into ourselves until there is but a shell of who we are meant to be. We will never be who God meant us to be until we let others into our life to refine us, to help us mature and become. And our friends need us to be that for them.

It is our moment to "Live together, or die alone."