Our need for belonging is imprinted on our souls from the first moment we take a breath. Have you ever considered the source of this longing for belonging? Belonging begins with God. Before humans ever existed, God existed in perfect, loving relationship between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The three persons of the Trinity belonged to each other long before the creation of our world. One day, this perfect circle of eternal love decided to widen the circle and create humanity. These created people would not be divine, but would be made in the image of God and would be designed to live and move and have their being IN GOD. By sharing in the love between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, people could also extend belonging to each other.
God did not create us because he was bored. He did not create humans simply to do the chores he didn’t want to do. Rather, God wanted to share his perfect, beautiful, and eternal experience of belonging.
Newborn babies need human touch to survive. It is part of our internal wiring-part of the image of God imprinted on us. When we feel ourselves to be separated from others and/or from God, we suffer deeply. Sometime, we even withdraw further from love which could actually heal us.
During August, we are doing a series called “Lessons in Belonging.” Over the next several weeks we are going to tease this out, and I really hope you’ll come. If you are anything like me, you might find that your desire to belong is matched by some commitment-phobe tendencies. So we are going to look at what to do with disillusionment and how do we practice vulnerability. I hope you’ll join us for this journey in belonging.
Susie Grade 