Calling All Hearts

Our pastor asked us the following questions in her sermon today:  Where do we belong? To what groups do we belong?  The sermon featured the word belonging (Birdwhistell, “We Belong Together,” 2014).  At first, the pastor led us down a “yellow brick road” of belonging. Then she took a sharp left into the land of being the outsider, not a citizen of the land called “Belonging.”  My social work wheels started turning.

Brene Brown, a professor at The University of Houston in the Graduate College of Social Work, reminds us in her own words, “A deep sense of love and belonging is an irreducible need of all people. We are biologically, cognitively, physically, and spiritually wired to love, to be loved, and to belong. When those needs are not met, we don't function as we were meant to. We break. We fall apart. We numb. We ache. We hurt others. We get sick” (Brown, “Want to be happy?” 2013).

Oftentimes, we are so insecure about if and where we belong that we can’t even see the needs of others around us who are desperately searching for the very same thing.  If we aren’t sure of our own spaces of belonging, we are in danger of loosing our gusto, bravery, and courage to stand up for those who are oppressed. We need all the courage we can muster to speak for those who have no voice. Brown reminds us that “the root word of ‘courage’ is cor--- the Latin word for heart. . . Courage originally meant to speak one's mind by telling all one's heart” (Brown, 2013).

As social workers, we walk alongside people who often don’t have places of belonging.  Maybe they are living in poverty, marginalized, or discriminated against.  If we are to make a difference in one another’s lives, we must begin the "calling all of our hearts" to be brave and courageous.

Too much is at stake with our brothers and sisters who  live in poverty, have no health care, have no hope, have no food, and have no sense of belonging except for on the edges of society. Our neighbors will not find changes in their lives if we do not find strength in our own voices to advocate for their voices. Our well-beings are connected to their well-beings. Our hearts are connected to their hearts.

            Let’s turn our eyes to see those who do not have a sense of belonging. Can you visualize a world in which brave and unselfish hearts are so strong that they influence policy for all hearts?

Brown, B. (2013). Want to be happy? Stop trying to be perfect. CNN.com. Retrieved February 23, 2014 from: http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/11/01/give.up.perfection/

Birdwhistell, M.A. (2014). We belong together. Calvary Baptist Church. Waco, Texas.