Oct 16

Dear Friends,

Sometimes I think that the question of belonging—to whom and how and why—can feel a bit weighty. “Longing” is a lengthening word. It can pull on us in heavy ways. Reflecting on belonging might make us pensive, might invite us to re-visit yearning that has not been satisfied. Certainly, the unsatisfied desire can be motivating as well as painful, can be inspiring as well as poignant.

I’d like to invite you into one of your own memories, a fragrance, a scent in a place you felt welcome, a place you felt at home. It might be the smell of baking bread or apple pie cooling on the counter-top. It might be the smell of a wood-stove with a blazing fire or the ashy remains of one. It might be the smell of a beloved wet dog. Any aroma that you associate with a feeling of beloved belonging. Hold that scent lightly in your nose, in your mind, at the tips of your fingers. Dance with that feeling of belonging. In the words of Rev. Gretchen Haley, “For this one moment/Know only that you are loved/That you are safe, and whole and loved/Know that you belong.”

Many of us show up at the Fellowship on Sunday morning because we feel that we belong, that we would like to belong. This Sunday, we are going to try to enact the conditions for belonging, not through scent but through a playfulness that allows us to perceive how we all belong together. Be prepared for an all-generation service full of laughter and music meant to lighten our hearts and spirits. And if this Sunday is not your Sunday for worship at the Fellowship, remember that you always belong. I pray this for you, as you remember that you are loved, you are worthy, you are welcome, and you are needed. May you feel it so.

Blessings, Rev. Rita