31 January 2024

Our help is in the Name of the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. ~ Psalm 124:8

Beloved,

Last Sunday I experienced a holy and priestly moment that I will not soon forget. A three-year-old child walked confidently to the altar, stepped up on a stool, and began preparing the altar for communion. A deacon later joined her and assisted with pouring the wine into the chalice. I could not help but think about the words of Jesus: “... let the little children come, without stopping them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.” (Matthew 19:14)

We all have a desire to belong; to a place or to someone. This is more than an entreaty toward inclusion. The feeling of ‘belonging-ness’ is knowing that we are accepted, connected, and loved just as we are; without expectations or qualifiers. That is, we genuinely fit into the places and the people in our lives.

Thankfully, many have instituted excellent policies and practices of inclusion that provide equal access to opportunities and resources for those who are marginalized and excluded in our society. This sense of inclusion, however, does not necessarily lead to a sense of ‘belonging-ness;’ or knowing that we are at home with others and at home in the places in which we find ourselves.

On my first visit to Arkansas, I said to my host, “I feel like I belong here.” I felt my longing being met for a place and people whose expression of life reminds me of God’s love — a place of communion. Like the little girl at St. Michael’s Church who beckoned us to prepare ourselves for belonging in the transforming presence of God in Eucharist, I am finding my own ‘belonging-ness’ in this place and among you all. In truth, we belong to one another because we all belong to God. Our help is in God, and we are God’s very own.

With every blessing and joy, I am,

+John Harmon
Bishop of Arkansas

Marcella of Rome, January 30, 2024