Circles

I enjoy being in the inner circle.  There is something that happens when you have been chosen.  You know you belong.  You can see the difference.  It doesn’t hurt to know others are not “in”.  They are excluded, I’m special!  I still recall the bitter taste in not being chosen for a kickball side in the third grade.  I don’t recall it getting any easier when partners were picked for tether ball games in the forth game.  I desperately wanted in; even if it was at the cost of a friend’s despair.
 
The desire to belong hasn’t changed with age.  If I am honest with myself, I find it even more intense than when I was young.  I have come to accept rejection by moving on, yet the desire to be part of something special remains strong.
 
I was recently reminded how destructive this thirst can be.  If it drives your behavior it is easy to miss the bigger picture.  You find yourself caught in an evil whirlpool, still trying to get in.  When someone from the old game told me to “enjoy your life and job outside the crazyness and emptyness of a screwed up place where everybody takes themselves as important as god; [the] reality of a poisoned world of empty characters” I realized I often truly miss the bigger picture! 
 
You and I, all of us, are part of a great community – God’s!  We belong.  We are part of the family.  We are Divinity’s kids, friends, and part of God’s team.  We get to bring true truth to everyone around us – compassion, mercy, hope, a sense of belonging, and strength.  If we turn our eyes, see what already is, and response, we can experience the reality of how “on that Day, Israel will take its place alongside Egypt and Assyria, sharing the blessing from the center.  God-of-the-Angel-Armies, who blessed Israel, will generously bless them all: ‘Blessed be Egypt, my people!  Blessed be Assyria, work of my hands!  Blessed be Israel, my heritage!’”  (Isaiah 19.24, 25)
 
The circle has included us!  Look, see, experience.