With all the disruptions going on, I’ve been pondering what it means to be community—what it means to belong.
Belonging is something we all yearn for. Yet it’s more than a desire—it’s a deep human necessity. As Brené Brown reminds us, belonging is “an irreducible need.” We are wired for it. We cannot thrive without it.
But what does it really mean to belong?
I’ve always loved the way Scott Russell Sanders describes belonging as weaving ourselves into a place. He writes:
It is rare for any of us, by deliberate choice, to sit still and weave ourselves into a place, so that we know the wildflowers and rocks and politicians, so that we recognize faces wherever we turn, so that we feel a bond with everything in sight. The challenge, these days, is to be somewhere as opposed to nowhere—to actually belong to some particular place, invest oneself in it, draw strength and courage from it, to dwell not simply in a career or a bank account but in a community. … Once you commit yourself to a place, you begin to share responsibility for what happens there.
That last line always stops me: to share responsibility for what happens there.
At The Meetinghouse, that’s what belonging looks like. It’s not a passive experience or a warm feeling of inclusion—it’s a shared act of care. It’s showing up. It’s investing our gifts, energy, and love to tend this place and its people. It’s creating spaces where others, too, can feel known, welcomed, and at home.
Together, we are learning to create spaces where we can be, belong, and become—spaces of welcome and wonder, creativity and connection, courage and care.
We hope you’ll join us in weaving yourself into this place we call The Meetinghouse—a place where belonging takes root and community flourishes.
Together we thrive,
