From Isolation to Belonging
Relationship.
Intimacy.
Desired,
ㅤ yet resisted.
Yearned for,
ㅤ yet feared.
For connection is vital.
But a risk must be taken.
To be,
ㅤ to feel,
ㅤconnected…
We must be known.
Exposed.
Our desires,
ㅤ our fears,
Must be revealed.
Shared.
Yes, vulnerability is needed.
In true connection,
ㅤ there is vulnerability.
Authenticity.
We can be authentic,
ㅤ or we can remain isolated.
And our ideas about God can compel us into authenticity…
Or they can condemn us,
ㅤ driving us deeper into isolation.
They can encourage us to accept,
ㅤ and to be,
Ourselves…
Or they can amplify our fears,
ㅤ sending us into hiding.
In hiding,
ㅤ in a solitary existence,
We lose relationship.
Companionship.
We decide that we must be good to be accepted.
That we must appear good to be loved.
And in this choice,
ㅤ we miss out on experiencing love.
Acceptance.
But God reverses the order.
He invites us first into acceptance.
Into love.
And in this acceptance…
As we lean into this love…
We are able to become vulnerable.
We learn to step out of isolation.
And in the process of stepping out,
ㅤ we begin to see that Jesus resides with us.
We begin to receive the grace he has for us.
And this love,
ㅤ this grace,
Enables us to better understand,
ㅤ to better hear,
The truth.
His truth.
His truth for us,
ㅤ and his truth about us.
And it is this truth that allows us,
ㅤ that frees us,
To be ourselves.
To reveal ourselves.
To entrust ourselves to him.
And to entrust ourselves to others.
To feel his love.
And to feel his love through others.
Through our relationships.
Though our community.
To love him.
And to love others through him.
Our choice is to accept his love…
To accept being known by him…
Or to remain in isolation.
Not knowing his love.
Not knowing the love of others.
Our choice is to love.
To belong.
To live.
Or…
To remain hidden.
Isolated.
Alone.
Unknown.
Unloved.
Psalming as Performance Art — written in real time, as I sat in church listening to a sermon preached by Pastor Phil on 2/17/19: Thrive: Forging a Vital Faith
