To belong
Yesterday was my birthday!! Out of gratitude for a new year and a great concern for the well-being of all who are in need of food, I share this important collection through the New Disabled South. Please give as you are able. Thank you!
Breathing air of all the saints. Belonging.
These words, spoken by a friend, continue to ring in my ears in these days following All Saints Day.
Belonging – the feeling this word can stir brings comfort to some and isolation to others. Be it family, school, city, faith community, nation, race… most people have experienced times when they know where they belong and felt the pain of exclusion.
The word belonging has proved its power time and again throughout the course of history. In many ways it is a two-sided word. It has planted the flags of countries fighting for borders and stoked the fire of anger among races and creeds. It has created communities brave enough to swim against the stream of oppression, given people meaning and z so purpose in their lives and opened doors to welcome the weary of body and soul.
Yet on a day such as All Saints, belonging rises above these human struggles and passions. For a moment, “all-that-is” takes a deep breath of gratitude. Our memories are filled with those beloved who have gone before us — and, for a moment, we feel their imprint in the world and in our lives.
It is a good thing we are gifted with a day that slows us enough to understand ‘belonging’ as a form of connection. A day when we can join in communion with all the saints – celebrating what “was and is and is to come”.
Happy belated Birthday, Carrie!