Copyright © 2011 Grace Family Church of Rhode Island

I would like to share with you some short but inspirational thoughts about togetherness that I have received from Dr. Joseph Tkach, our denominational President and Pastor General. His point in the message below is very pertinent to the unsettling times we live in, and alerts us to the profound pain we can inadvertently inflict on each other. It is my hope that it will move and inspire you as much as it did for me.  May the love of God be upon you all and may He bring us all together in perfect harmony.  We love you all, and pray for you every day.  -- Pastor Luciano Cozzi

The military uses the term "friendly fire" to refer to the mistake that occurs when troops of one nation accidentally kill their own soldiers. Friendly fire has tragically become a battlefield fact of life. I have read that George Washington reported that during the French and Indian War, 400 casualties resulted from soldiers who panicked and sent volley after volley into their own ranks. It has been estimated that 10% of the American casualties of World War II and 15% to 20% of casualties during the Vietnam War were the result of friendly fire—bombs dropped by accident; errant rifle fire; artillery shells landing on the wrong targets.   

If you have not already noticed, a kind of "friendly fire" is the cause of countless casualties in another way: in the workplace, at church and on the home front. Teachers who are assailed by parents "burn out" in just a few short years. In-fighting within groups brings down any organization. Those in the helping professions are set upon by those they try to care for. Co-workers undermine one another, at the expense of productivity and emotional health. Spouses fire verbal (and sometimes physical) shots at one another until mortally wounded marriages finally die. Families fight amongst themselves with little regard for the damage wrought.   

The loss from domestic "friendly fire" cannot be estimated. Yet these casualties are unnecessary and wasteful. Someone said so well:   

To come together is a beginning;

To stay together is progress;

To finish together is success.   

Can an organization or family succeed when it sustains damages from within? The solution to the problem of loss by friendly fire is found in the word  "together." We have come together for important reasons. We are in it together. Through conflict and disagreement, we must stand together. And in the end, if we finish at all, we will finish together.