Each and One of Them

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “each and every one.” It’s a counter’s mantra. I’ve mentioned before the concept of “hard measurements” and “soft measurements.” What I never considered before was that there are times when counting can be counter-productive.

Sometimes, we want and need to know the number of people who attend an event. When the children leave church to go to Children’s church, I count them. I think it is one way to measure the success of a program -- how many people (children) find the program valuable enough to take the time to attend. In the same vein, I would like to know how many people attended the Easter service at our church. I don’t need to know this to confirm that it was good – I know it was great. I would like to know how many people attended because I’m hoping this great service reached a maximum number of people.

I know someone who, instead of saying “each and every one of you” says “each and one of you.” For example, he will say “Merry Christmas to each and one of you.” We always wonder to which one of “you” he is wishing a Merry Christmas. The more I think about it, though, the more convinced I am that there are times when we need to count “each and one” instead of “each and every one.” In other words, there is a time to count, and there is a time to avoid counting.

Two examples that came to mind this morning:

I’m working with a group in our downtown area to organize vacation Bible school for four or five local churches. The Director of Christian Education from one of those churches told us about Palm Sunday in her church. Eleven youth were confirmed; eight people baptized. That’s just wonderful! It got me thinking about our current confirmation class, in which two young men (our son included) are learning about the church in preparation for joining it in June. I wish the class were larger. This morning, as I was thinking about counting, I stumbled across this blog entry. I realized that this is not the time to count each and every one of them; this is the time to praise God for each and one of them. When they stand up in church in June, these two young men will be declaring their belief in God and Christ along with their commitment to be a part of His church. Counting is wrong here. This will be a time to be grateful for each of them, and God’s work in their lives. It’s a time to pass the Kleenexes, not the calculator.

We went to the closing of an Emmaus walk last night. It’s a joyous time celebrating how God has worked in the lives of the pilgrims who are just completely their walks. Normally at a gathering of the Emmaus community (from my limited experience), as we encircle the Sanctuary, we count off. It’s a great way to celebrate that God has brought us all together for an evening. Last night, at the closing, we joined in a circle, but we purposefully did not count off. S and I were thinking about that on the way to the car. The more I think about it, the more that I think it is very wise. These pilgrims were invited to join a walk so that each and one of them could be touched by God in a special and unique way – the way God knew each of them needed to be touched. At the closing, we celebrated their journey and welcomed them into the community. All weekend was spent convincing them that each and one of them were special – special to God; special to us. To count them at the end of that journey might give them the impression (even subconsciously) that they were invited only to increase the size of the community. Having new members of the community is healthy and wonderful, but I don’t think that it is the reason for the walks. Closing is a time to echo God’s joy in each and one of them, not in each and every one of them.

Image source: Weed near VA parking lot. You may count the daisies, or you may sit back and enjoy how pretty they are.