I'll come and get right, right in your city

I've had a slew of topics that I've been meaning to address over the past few fortnights. When they come to me I try to write them down so that I can blog about them and present you with my point of view. Even if you don't respond at least you can think about it and form your own point of view on the matter. So the next series of posts will just be my thoughts on some topics as of late in a stream of consciousness style presentation. Prepare yourself accordingly. Some of this stuff might form itself more fully as I type.

Today's topic: Synergy

The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects.

"I'm a movement by myself, but we're a force when we're together."


I recall watching a Houston Rockets game during their groundbreaking run to 22 straight victories. Their was a blurb that came accross the screen about synergy. It stuck out because if you looked at the roster, the Rockets look like a B-team. Yet, they were winning at an alarming rate and on their way to record breaking success. I think it might have been win 19 or 21 when they showed the synergy definition. I can't find the screenshot. But if you saw it you know what I'm talking about. Synergy is when the combination of people/companies/drugs/what have you join forces to cause more good/productivity/a greater high/what have you than they are capable of apart. That's not just me talking, that's the actual definition. It applies to everything. It is hard to acquire. It's the stuff mergers are based on. It's why AT&T joins with Cingular. It's Penn and Teller. It's Sigfried and Roy. No homo. It's Obama and Clinton? Wishful thinking. It's acquirng Luis Scola and Aaron Brooks and Bobby Jackson and Rafer Alston and Shane Battier and Dikembe Mutumbo to support Yao and T Mac. That's a terrible supporting cast. That won 22 straight. 10 post Yao injury. It's Big Boi and Andre 3000. 8 ball and MJG. Pimp C and Bun B. It's me and you...your mama and your cousin too. It's your broken parts and my broken parts fitting together like a puzzle. It's when you're not strong enough and I'm your shoulder to lean on. It's when this world is too much to bear ( that bear/bare thing is so much more confusing now) and there's that other person lifting the weight up off of your shoulders and suddenly it's not only bearable, it's only half as heavy. I think marraige is human synergy. Not that Vegas Dennis Rodman/Carmen Electra business. Partnerships are human synergy. I'm talking about when I got the communications part and you got the finance part and he has the science of it worked out and he has the know how. When we came in together and we all got something different out of it and we sit down and talk it out and everyone comes out better. Great Debators. When my perspective and your perspective give us the panoramic view. And we're seeing things we never would have seen before. Touch what I've never touched before, seen what I've never seen before, woke up and seen the sun sky high. When your Gmail tops my Yahoo, but my Pandora trumps your Imeem. When you understand the numbers side, but I understand the people side. Mind you, I'm sort of flip flopping topics and ideas and people and categories, that's not the point. You want to know the point? One of the last sermons I heard in Austin before I left "indefinitely" was about being alone. The message was, "It is not meant for man to be alone." It wasn't even based on all the traditional senses. Yes, they graced the topic that Adam wasn't made to be alone, thats why God delivered Eve, but it was more than that. You're not meant to go through things in this life alone. There's a saying, "I was born alone and I'm going to die alone." But boy is that not true. You were born in a room full of doctors. Your dad or someone playing that role for the time might have been there. But even if you didn't have any of those people, you were born with your mother. There was always someone there. Because you can not make it on your own. You're not meant to. Its unnatural. It is not meant for man to be alone. It's the idea of family. The concept of friends. The reason for team players being more highly valued than individuals. The concept behind Diversity. The reason T-Mac can't get out the first round. You can't do it by yourself homie. You're a shell of your former self. It's Kobe and Shaq. D Wade and Shaq. It's Ernie, Kenny and Charles. It's very easy to get caught up in this world we live in, especially in America, where it's pumped into your brain that you are the most important being breathing. It's about you. Being self-centered and self-taught and self-oriented and selfish are all valued. Ahhh, but this post is about synergy. Which defies the idea of self. That self-dependence inherently produces less than a combination of forces. Mind you, I'm not telling you to depend on others, but simply to understand that the capitalistic ideology we were raised in isn't teaching us about the greatest good for the greatest number. And I'm well aware of the ethical implications of that last statement, so we'll just take it in its simplest form for now. Synergy is not easy to achieve. There's the problem of groupthink and then there can be deadweight or there could be a party that is actually holding the other party back. Those are all barriers to overcome. True synergy is hard to achieve and if found should not be taken for granted. Synergy is like magic. Man is not meant to be alone.

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.

Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.

In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.

Sometimes there were two sets of footprints.

Other times there were one set of footprints.

This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life

When I was suffering from anguish, sorrow, or defeat,

I could see only one set of footprints.

So I said to the Lord, "You promised me, Lord,

That if I followed you, you would walk with me always.

But I noticed that during the most trying periods of my life

There have only been one set of prints in the sand.

Why, When I have needed you most, you have not been there for me?"

The Lord replied,

"The times when you have seen only one set of footprints

Is when I carried you."

So I know you may very well be thinking that I just quoted "Footprints in the Sand" and that that's not synergy, that's faith and dependence. Well, for one, that's a topic for another day. For two, according to "The Purpose Driven Life"...

God deeply loves you and desires your love in return...

He takes pleasure in those that honor Him; in those who trust in His constant love." Psalms 147:11

If He's getting something out of my faith and worship and I'm getting everything I'm getting, that's as good as it gets folk. I won't even pretend like it's synergy, but you needed that quote just as much as I did. LETSGETIT, synergy.