belonging.....

It is what we want most, ahead of money or status.  Belonging.  Community.  Or to quote Cheers, 'a place where everybody knows your name.'

We want to experience being a part of it - and this includes our spiritual longings as well.  What a religious community says is secondary to how it 'is' with and for one another.  When I look at the group here gathered, do I want to be one of them?  Do I want to grow into one of them?  Do I want to live my life as they live theirs?  Do I experience good in this group so that I see it at work and trust what I see?  Is this where I could belong?

For those who gather around the Christian cross, the question then becomes, 'Who am I when I belong to Christ?'  This question marks the beginning of a rich and vibrant spiritual life - for the individual and for the community at large.  You can translate that into: How have I experienced Christ?  How has Christ changed my experience of the world, and the world's experience of me?  What might it look like if Christ was in, with and under each of my words, thoughts and deeds? We might ask as a community:  How do we reflect the life we have experienced in Jesus to the world?  How does it change how we act and what we decide to do as a community? 

In fact, our life of faith together should go beyond community (which could easily define Buffalo Bills fans) to communion - a set of relationships that both reflects our passions and shapes them at the same time.*  That is, we belong because of who they are.  We are who we are because of where we belong.

All too complicated for you? I get it.  It comes down to this: folks who are spiritually seeking are looking for a community where those who belong reflect the very values they espouse.  They have seen something they want to imitate. 

They aren't seeking answers to questions; they are seeking a place where they can belong.  They expect that the answers to complicated questions are to be discovered way down the road.  First they want to trust the folks with whom they are making the journey.

Be attentive to your own imitation of Christ.  Invite others to walk with you as you grow and learn.  Don't feel pressed to have the big answers.  Belong and invite others to belong as well.

That's what Jesus did. 

*Once again, I acknowledge the writing and wisdom of Diana Butler Bass in her book, Christianity after Religion, from which I took inspiration and a quote or two.  Do read it.