Standing on the shoulders of giants

On the side of the British two pound coin is a phrase that (in my mind) defines a part of being community. Standing on the shoulders of giants.

The 12th century theologian and author John of Salisbury used a version of the phrase in a treatise on logic called Metalogicon, written in Latin in 1159. The gist of what Salisbury said is:

"We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants. We see more, and things that are more distant, than they did, not because our sight is superior or because we are taller than they, but because they raise us up, and by their great stature add to ours."

Isaac Newton quoted this in a letter to his rival Robert Hooke, in 1676: "What Descartes did was a good step. You have added much several ways, and especially in taking the colours of thin plates into philosophical consideration. If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants."

Living in a community can be a challenge, yet living in a community empowers me. When I am shortsighted, they can help me. When I am weak, they can lift me up. And they do.

I think this is God's awesome plan - He did not make us lone riders, He gave us each other. Our job is to encourage, to lift it each other up, but also to speak to the truth in love. To mold, to hold accountable, to be there for each other. All of this in relationships...

To my community, who regularly allow me to stand on their shoulders so I can see beter - thank you!