"On a hot summer day, what’s one of the most refreshing treats you can imagine? Certainly, ice cream would be near the top of almost everyone’s list. And that’s what people wanted on a hot, sticky day in the summer of 1904. People at the St. Louis World’s Fair had walked for hours in the hot sun, and they were ready for something to cool them off. That’s why they were lined up for what seemed like miles in front of the booth of Arnold Fornachou to get a taste of his frosty ice cream. The problem was that Arnold’s ice cream was so popular he quickly ran out of paper bowls. The moonlighting teenager scrambled to keep his potential customers by washing and reusing the few ceramic bowls he had on hand. But no matter how hard he worked, many people grew tired of waiting and wandered off in search of another treat. That’s when an unlikely partner emerged to save the day. His name was Ernest Hamwi, a pastry chef who had grown up in Damascus, Syria. In the booth next to Arnold’s, he was selling a wafer-thin Persian convection called a zalabia. When Ernest saw his neighbor’s plight, he was struck with a great idea. Grabbing a warm zalabia, he twisted it into a cornucopia shape and rolled it in sugar. Then he ran over to Arnold’s booth and offered it to him. Still scrambling to wash bowls and wait on customers, Arnold didn’t understand what the older man had in mind. But when Ernest handed an ice cream scoop atop a confection cone to a waiting customer, Arnold instantly got the message. A huge smile spread over his face, and in no time, the two men were working together side by side – Ernest made the “edible bowls” and Arnold scooped the ice cream. Back then, they were called World’s Fair Cornucopias, and they were the hit of the fair.”What a difference “togetherness” makes, right? Think of it for a moment: how much better off would families today be if dad and mom founded a marriage and built a home on the strength of togetherness instead of the escape clause of divorce ... how much better off would America be if republicans and democrats joined forces to fix all that would seem to be broken in the government and in the country instead of wasting time blaming the other side for breaking everything and stopping the other side from fixing anything ... how much better off would even our world be if super powers came together to fix the world’s problems instead of fighting against each other and creating more of them. Wow ... think of life lived in unity and togetherness like that. Never mind a box of chocolates, life would then be like ... well, a ‘World’s Fair Cornucopia’!
The potential of togetherness ... it’s amazing, even immeasurable, isn’t it? Maybe Mother Teresa said it best, “You can do what I cannot do. I can do what you cannot do. Together, we can do great things.” Without doubt, it’s true: when we partner together, we ‘add’ to each other ... we do together then so much more than we could ever do on our own.
It was the third day of Vacation Bible School. The primary class was well underway when a new boy, Davey, showed up. Because he just had one arm, the teacher was a little nervous, concerned that one of the other children would comment on his handicap and embarrass or hurt his feelings. Since there was no opportunity to caution them, she proceeded. As the class continued, the teacher began to relax as Davey fit in very well. Then, when it was about time for the class to end, she asked the students to stand and join her in making the church. Showing them how to put the fingers of their two hands together, she said, “Let’s make a church. Here’s the church and here’s the steeple. Open the door and see all the people.” As this teacher saw Davey holding his one hand in the air, the awful truth of her actions struck her. The very thing she had feared the children would do, she had just done. She stood speechless, embarrassed by her own unintended insensitivity. Before the leader could do anything to right this situation, the little girl next to Davey put her right hand into Davey’s left hand and said, “Davey, let’s you and I build the church together.”Oh, the things we can build ... together! And beyond that, how good and how pleasant and even how blessed our life experiences would be as we would determine to prioitize and protect togetherness!
Before He left this earth, Jesus prayed for us ... He prayed that we would be one, that a sense of divine and definite togetherness would both describe and define us. And now today, may it be our prayer that we become and begin to live out the answer to His prayer!
