Look for the folks who need to know that they belong

 
Referencing the fact that in the past year, the United States has experienced the largest number of deaths by suicide than it has in its history, Bishop Hughes urges us, as we move through Lent, to be a little more aware and sensitive to those who might be feeling left out. (Time:3:44.)

Video Transcript

This is Bishop Hughes in the Diocese of Newark, and our Lenten journey has begun. I made some suggestions right before Ash Wednesday of things that you could practice for Lent, and my hope is that you have taken on a spiritual practice. I'm okay with the fact that some of you are going to do a self help practice, that's perfectly fine. But I'm really hoping for the spiritual practice that anchors your faith and gives it an opportunity to grow and to develop more. And that during these 40 days of Lent, that that would be a practice drawing you deeper and deeper into God's presence, and the transformation that comes from that.

I have one other thought about how we practice Lent. I wonder, who are the people around us that we could help to feel like they belong – whether it's belonging in our family, or belonging in our church, or belonging at work, or belonging in our friends group – but since they belong. I am deeply aware of the vast number of people I encounter on a regular basis, who feel quite lost and lonely. Who feel that they don't belong anywhere. Who wished that they have a place where they knew they fit in, and who have this deep longing for connection and don't quite know how to get there.

Now, I'm not suggesting that for Lent you create new programs and new groups and take on a whole practice of starting up something. But I am wondering, as we go about our lives during these 40 days of Lent, if we could be a little more aware and sensitive to those who are feeling left out. Sometimes they give that away, sometimes not. Sometimes it's obvious that someone is not sitting with the group. And maybe they don't want to, but maybe they do. And so I want to encourage us to number one, be aware. And then number two, make the offer. To offer a word of encouragement or friendliness or welcome, to let people know that they have a place and that they matter. And that they matter, actually, even to you, that you'd like them to be part of a conversation. "Hey, there's room at the table for you. There's room in this conversation for you."

I say all these things, because in the past year, the United States has experienced the largest number of deaths by suicide than it has in its history. In its entire history. We've never had so many people go because of loneliness. I keep thinking of the Tracy Chapman song, "You have a fast car." It's been on everybody's minds lately because of the performance at the Grammy Awards. But there's a little phrase in there towards the end of the refrain, where she says, "I had a feeling that I could belong. I had a feeling that I could be someone." And don't all of us at some point in our lives experience that. And I can look back on a time when I experienced that, and remember the people who reached out to me to remind me that I had a place, that I did belong.

So I offer that to you this Lent. Across these 40 days, as you engage in your spiritual practices, or your self help program, but during these 40 days, look for the folks who need to know that they belong. Look for the folks who need to know that they are someone, to the people around them, to their church community, to their neighborhood, to their family, to their friends.