Our world is filled with people who feel they do not belong. Knowing this should cause us to question whether we are perpetuating this problem.
This sounds simple, but the truth is, we may not even be aware of who these people are.
Why is this? How could we not know there are people in our lives who feel this way? It could be because our focus is on us. If this is true, we may need to take our eyes off ourselves for just a moment. When we do, we may find there are people who feel this way are right in front of us.
The struggle to belong is increasing and has been exasperated by feelings of isolation and loneliness in our world today. The irony is how easy it is to reach out and let someone know they matter and they are not alone.
Yet, we don’t.
Why? There may be a myriad of reasons we can give; none of which are malicious. In fact, the most likely reason is, we just never think about it. Therein lies the problem. Most of us are pre-occupied with our own lives and filled with thoughts of ourselves, not of others.
Perhaps some of you are dealing with loneliness or isolation today. If you are anything like me, no one will ever know. You will hide your feelings for fear of being seen as weak in a world where weakness is not allowed.
I have spent years wrestling with the tension between feeling one way and acting another and I do not believe I am alone.
There is a song by Radiohead that gives us a window into these types of feelings. The song is “Creep”. The lyrics speak of the harshness of feeling different. The line that expresses this clearly and simply is, “I am a “Creep”, I am a weirdo, what the hell am I doing here? I don’t belong here.”
Each time I hear those words I am reminded of people I know who feel this way. I am saddened by the pain these feelings have caused them.
So, what can we do to help people overcome these feelings of not fitting in, or not belonging? We can start by celebrating the beauty found in our uniqueness. Then, we need to understand everyone belongs here. We can do this by acknowledging the intrinsic value found in each of us.
In fact, we must remember we have all been created on purpose, for a purpose only we can fulfill.
When we can do this, the only “Creep” left in our world will be the ones who cannot see true beauty is found in the differences that make each of us special! So very special!!
Psalm 139:14, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well”.
