Monday, September 1, 2015

1 Peter 2:10

Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Belonging

I had not thought of water balloons as a sacrament until Sunday when excited children chased me around the parking lot at the congregational picnic. Wielding their wet weapons, they squealed as their projectiles exploded against my back, their mission accomplished.

Somewhere in the chaos, sodden shirt sticking to my skin, each fresh explosion brought bracing awareness of something I have seldom felt: I belong.

I belong. I belong here, to this place and these people even though for a long time I never thought I would … or could … or even wanted to belong. But I do.

I always fancied myself different from others. My temperament was and is moody, given to wide swings from depression to elation. From childhood even small events brought intense emotion while others glided through them as if they were nothing much.

This difference sometimes caused pain because I wanted acceptance I seldom found. I was different and knew it. This difference later became the source of insight and depth and even pride as I fancied that I was unique … a more sensitive human being. Maybe that’s true, maybe not.

True or not, it magnified separation from others whose approval and companionship I wanted but seldom received because I was too different. I didn’t fit, and I knew it. So I built an identity around not fitting in.

But water balloons have the power to wash away the illusion of our facades.

Underneath it all, I am just a man, a human soul like any other, needier than some, a little strange, and yes, more emotional than most, most men at least. I make no apologies for that.

In fact, I am thankful for it, thankful to be able to feel the water balloons telling me I need be nothing but what I am, for I belong to a people and place where grace is real and Love squeals with delight.

Pr. David L. Miller