On the Minister's Mind

by Rev. Laine Morgan

I believe that deep within each one of us is a longing to belong. The question is, what are you willing to risk finding places where your belonging is unquestionable?

Last weekend, I took just such a risk.  I felt very vulnerable as we were packing our bags to go spend 3 nights in the home of some friends we met quite briefly during the vacation we took to Australia last Fall.  We met them in Melbourne when we signed up for a “chocolate tour” and found out we were the only 4 people scheduled to spend the day exploring many shops in search of unique chocolate tastings.  It must have been a bonding experience because they invited us to continue our search for chocolate back in the States with a visit to their home and a road trip up to Hershey, PA.

Last weekend, the time had come to actively choose to explore deepening that friendship connection, but the challenging part was that we hadn’t even spoken since last November.  We had barely exchanged texts!  Could we really allow ourselves to be vulnerable enough to trust the connection we had quickly made so many months ago?  Had we gotten ourselves into this personal situation too quickly and with too little consideration?

The deeper questions for me were about my ability to trust my intuition about other people and my tendency to love openly and freely without consideration of the reciprocal nature of the energy.  Could I allow my soul to lead me into friendships and trust that they will grow into a deeper feeling of belonging?

To make a long, beautiful story short, it turned out to be one of the best times of my life.  The conversations were meaningful and fulfilling, the laughter was uproarious, the shared ground of experience was affirming, and the chocolate was sweet.  Life felt peaceful and gorgeous the entire time we were together because I felt that deep belonging, we all crave.

M. Scott Peck, the renowned psychiatrist and author of The Road Less Traveled wrote about our desire for community and the stepping-stones we must travel to achieve it when he said – “There can be no vulnerability without risk. There can be no community without vulnerability. There can be no peace, and ultimately no life, without community. “

My invitation to you is to take some risks in the weeks ahead and be vulnerable as we consciously build community together.  Peace and life are on the other side of those risks, so if you didn’t play Bunco last weekend, come watch the Bucs game with us, or volunteer with the animals, or even scoot your boots!   Trust your soul to lead you to connections that deepen your sense of belonging.

There is method to my madness!