Those that know me find it hard to believe, because I appear to be quite an extrovert, but I’m actually a fairly self-conscious and shy person. Especially in situations where I don’t personally know anyone. It has always been quite difficult for me to accept invitations. But I noticed a long time ago it was holding me back from life. It was holding me back from a potential inside which I believe each of us has.
I was hiding my light because I was afraid. Not an unusual amount of fear, just the standard stuff. But that’s the tenor of fear we tend to disregard because it sits just below the surface largely not bothering anyone. It does its work quietly. Hinting that it would be so much nicer to just stay home tonight. Thanks anyway.
Many years ago I made a secret pact with myself. I made it with God also, but we each have different responsibilities in the deal. My end is harder to keep. I promised to accept invitations. I asked God to keep them relevant. Don’t wash me in a tide random invites, but carefully select them for me. I asked to be guided and communicated to through the character of the invitations themselves. I assumed I might glimpse a bit of my life’s secret purpose by observing the various things to which I was being invited.
An invitation is a sign of acceptance. It’s a welcome. Our part of the bargain is accepting them. Make a pact to accept the welcoming of others and have faith to believe the invitations themselves might suddenly start to become more specific, more targeted. Even revelatory. A theme starts to become noticable. Do you believe that God is still speaking to us? It’s not going to arrive via email. Be open to what the Universe is whispering to you.
There’s a reason for this. It’s about belonging. Belonging is the mayo. It’s what makes the sandwich tasty. The catalyst. It’s the difference something that is merely food and something that is nourishing. Unless we are willing to be brave we will rarely find it. Belonging is the root of human happiness, prosperity, even survival. It is the completion of our instinct to bond with others. It is equal parts anthropological and spiritual both. Our bodies and souls each crave it. Stop resisting.
The world today is rife with a lack of belonging. More specifically, it is loaded with a culture to exclude others as a way protecting ourselves. We determine who is not worthy so that we know who is. And then we belong to them. But that’s not to say when one door is closed we don’t continue to seek belonging from whatever is available. Violent gangs would not exist if they didn’t cultivate a sense of family and belonging as a recruiting method. Likewise if their members had felt a sense of belonging elsewhere in their lives, they might not have had to turn to the gang culture to fulfill their nature in the first place. Humans do human things always.
Where do we exclude ourselves? From what are we holding ourselves back? How much baby are we throwing out with the bathwater? Accept invitations on purpose. Especially random ones. Break the cycle. As you get stronger, help others to do so as well. If you have faith enough to believe that we are not alone, not unloved, not purposeless, then start acting like it. Connect with the fullness of what it means to be human by existing in a state of welcoming and hospitality. It will help complete the circuit of your humanity. It will reveal the character of your true purpose over time. It will heal the world.
As the teachings of all world faiths begin to welcome one another, they will see their similarities and forget their differences. They are so few by comparison. The same is true for each of us. All religious teachings are ultimately relational practices meant to systematically introduce us to one another, to create belonging and thus, security, salvation. They are literal behavioral systems designed to initiate the act of hospitality among us at God’s behest. They are invitations. Accept them. Together they have a character visible in them. Together, their existence draws us a picture, vague at first, but clarifying as the ages proceed. Step back and look. We already belong to one another, all of us. We need only open our eyes to what is already true.
This hit home. I think I need a mayo shirt!
ReplyDeleteBe the mayo!!
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