Sitting on the hillside,
listening to the preacher,
you can’t remember the words exactly–
something about the kingdom of God
and the list of who are blessed and belong–
and it dawned on you:
it’s everyone.
Everyone.
Everyone belongs in God’s forever kingdom of love,
including you.

Tears filled your eyes
and your heart thumped so loudly
anyone could hear it a block away.
You couldn’t stop the beautiful tears
from coming and birthing you into
a new world.

You know how it is;
when you hear truth in one place,
you begin to hear it everywhere
and you did–
in songs and poetry
in your dog’s wagging tail and the cashier’s smile,
in sacred texts of saints and mystics,
in podcasts,
and in the morning’s silence.

Love handed you a stethoscope
and said, “Listen to my heart,”
you belong,
you belong, 
you belong.

As if that wasn’t enough,
Love gave you places to practice
letting yourself feel
loved,
the fear of losing love,
and the wonder of surviving
love withdrawn. 

You began to believe
people like you,
love you, and
want to be your friend.

You discovered that
you can make mistakes,
piss people off,
and still belong.

As if that wasn’t enough
Love got into the creaky corners
of your unbelief,
heard the painful stories
of hurt and rejection
and, when the time was right,
said cool stuff like,
“Only love has the final say on who you are.”
and
“Forgive them, they didn’t know what they were doing.”

And as if that wasn’t enough,
you began to
live like you belong,
love like you belong–
solid and free.
Belonging oozes out of you
without you even trying.
You have more moments
of falling in love
with every person you meet.
Everything about you–
and I mean, everything–
tells them,
Sister,
Brother,
you belong.

Maybe this is your story,
maybe not,
or not yet.
But if something in you
would like it to be
that’s the truth at work
setting you free. 

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
–John 8:32 (NIV)

Credits and References:
Sermon on the Mount photo by ROBERT HUFFSTUTTER. Used with permission.
The Truth That Set You Free by Esther Hizsa, 2024
Quote “Only love has the final say…” by James Finley in Turning to the Mystics
Quote “Forgive them,…” by Jesus, Luke 23:34
Kinderreigen (1872), Hans Thoma [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

© Esther Hizsa, An Everyday Pilgrim, 2024.
The unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without permission from Esther Hizsa is prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used provided there is a link to the original content and credit is given as follows: © Esther Hizsa, An Everyday Pilgrim 2013-2024.  http://www.estherhizsa.com