The sacred work of being human
finding our place of belonging in today’s world
a shelter of belonging
Seeking and finding our place of belonging
Spiritual wellbeing involves a personal experience of belonging. We experience belonging when we know who we are, why we are here, and how we are to live. Our sense of identity, purpose, and values is shaped by a set of beliefs assembled into a sacred narrative that gives purpose to our existence and mortality. A sacred narrative that resonates with our minds and hearts provides a shelter of belonging within Life’s ongoing creative dance of being and becoming.
Shelter of belonging
within Life’s ongoing creative dance of being and becoming.
Photo by Robert & Dianne Tyzzer
The longing to belong remains constant throughout human history. The shape of belonging, however, continues to change over time. As such, we must undertake the sacred work of finding our place of belonging in today’s world. Seeking an authentic shelter of belonging is the sacred work of being human.
Life’s call of belonging
Our longing to belong does not sit within a vacuum. Rather, it resonates with the call of belonging pulsating within the deeper rhythms of Life itself. Anne Hillman puts it this way:
“our call takes place underground, far beneath our awareness. Like a soundless song, it sings to us all our lives, whispering in a wordless way, ‘Follow!’ ”
Responding to such a primordial whisper draws us into an ever-deepening experience of connection in the here and now, while at the same time enables us to participate in Life’s ongoing creative dance of being and becoming.
How do we respond to Life’s call of belonging?
We respond to Life’s call to belong by posing our time-honoured and time-specific spiritual questions within the context of our current lived experience and the knowledge/beliefs we hold about how the world came to be/continues to be. Our time-honoured spiritual questions include: "Where did we come from?" "Why are we here?" "What becomes of us when we die?" "Is there a god?" “How are we to live?” “Why is there good and evil in the world?” ”What is the nature of love?” A time-specific spiritual question is: "What does it mean to be human in an emergent universe?" The responses we discover to such questions shape our shelter of belonging. For more on this practice see the web page Contemplative self-enquiry.
Further practices
For further insights into creating and embracing a new shelter of belonging, consider exploring the following resources: