I remember as a child discovering the echo of sound. It was the first time that my father took me uphill to jog and go to Lagaslas. As we passed a limestone cliff, he called out to his friends in the distance. His call had barely ended when it was copied exactly and sent forth again by the stone. It was a fascinating discovery. I tried out my own voice and the echo returned faithfully every time. It was as if the solid limestone had secret hearing and voice. Their natural stillness and silence suddenly broke forth in an exact mimic of the human voice suggesting that there was a resonant heart in the depths of silence; the stone responds in a symmetry of sound. Hearing one’s echo in the lonely landscape of the mountains seems also to suggest that we are not alone, that we belong here on this earth. It is as if the symmetry of the echo comprised the radius of an invisible circle of belonging.
The hunger to belong is at the heart of our nature. Cut off from others, we atrophy and turn in ourselves. Mostly, we do not need to make an issue of belonging; when we belong, we take it for granted. Merely to be excluded or to sense rejection hurts. When we become isolated, we are prone to being damaged; our minds lose their flexibility and natural kindness. We become vulnerable to fear and negativity. A sense of belonging, however, suggests warmth, understanding and embrace.
Our hunger to belong is the longing to bridge the gulf that exists between isolation and intimacy. Distance awakens longing; closeness is belonging. Everyone longs for intimacy and dreams of a nest belonging in which one is embraced, seen and loved. Something within each of us cries out for belonging. We can have all the world has to offer in terms of status, achievement and possessions; yet without a true sense of belonging, our lives feel empty and pointless. Like the tree that put roots deep into the clay, each of us needs the anchor of belonging in order to bend with the storms and continue towards the light. Like ocean that returns each time to the shore, a sense of belonging liberates us and empowers us to trust fully the rhythm of loss and longing. Like a welcoming circle of friendship, it also shelters us from the loneliness of life. Furthermore, when we belong, we have an outside mooring to prevent our minds from falling into the abyss within us. Though we may not reflect too frequently on the vast infinity that surrounds us, such infinity can be threatening; it makes us feel tiny, inconsequential and vulnerable.
Unknown to us, this sense of vulnerability intensifies our hunger to belong. Each one of us journeys alone into this world – and each one of us carries a unique world within our hearts. No one experiences your life as you do; yours is a totally unique story of experiences and feelings. Yet no individual is sealed off or self-enclosed. Although each soul is individual and unique, by its very nature the soul hungers for relationship. Consequently, it is your soul that longs to belong – and it is your soul that makes all belonging possible. No soul is private. No soul is merely mortal. As well as being vital principle of your individual life, your soul is also eternal; it weaves you into the great tapestry of spirit which connects everything everywhere. Belonging does not merely shelter you from the sense of being separate and different; it is more profound intention is the awakening of the great belonging which embraces everything. At the root of our hunger to belong, therefore, is the desire to awaken this hidden affinity. It is only when we recognize this intimate unity that we know we are not outsiders cut off from everything around us but rather participants at the very heart of creation. Each of us brings something alive in the world that is unique. There is a profound necessity at the heart of individuality. As we awaken to this sense of destiny, we can begin to live a life that is generous and worthy of the blessing that is always calling us.
