Dear friends,
Have you ever felt that you really belonged? Or that you were known and appreciated? We need to belong. I believe that we all have a need and a desire to be known. We also have a need and a desire to know other people. We are made for relationship: to know one another, to share our lives, to give and receive friendship, to offer and receive understanding, support, kindness, forgiveness; in short, to give and receive love.
On Sunday I asked the congregation to pair up and take turns sharing about a time when you felt loved. One person who was watching online asked, “Was that scary to do?” One of the people who was there in person reported, “Actually, it was really fun, and it was amazing how quickly we experienced a sense of intimacy, of knowing each other.”
St. Dunstan’s Church is a place where it is safe to share your story and where you can enjoy knowing other people’s stories. When we come together with people we know and like, we feel safe and happy. When we come together and we know that we are known and appreciated, we feel included; we feel that we are a part of something that matters.
Eating together, singing together (as in the choir), working together, worshipping together, praying together, studying the Bible together, and sharing our stories are all ways that we develop that sense of being known and appreciated.
With love,
David+