At church earlier today the song leader chose a particularly beautiful arrangement of “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need” for one of our hymns, and though the hymn is a familiar one, taken from Psalm 23, the meaning of the lyrics struck me particularly strongly given my own situation in life. Psalm 23, one of David’s more famous psalms, speaks of David’s longing to find a settled place in the house of God, not merely an occasional guest there, but be at home there. This is a longing I share, a longing that I tend to take with me wherever I wander through this world.

Today I would like to talk about this longing to belong, and what it tends to drive me to do. I have alluded at least indirectly to this longing in recent entries [1]. Whenever I travel to an area, I like to find what niches need to be filled that suit my own talents and abilities. For example, Portland is short on tenors (which I happen to sing), and has about three or four young women in the mid-to-late 20’s as a congregation. In addition, it has an active a capella group. As I am not content to be a stranger or a guest wherever I am, I tend to seek local knowledge and involvement that provides networks and connections with others.

This is by no means a new behavior. I suppose the plus side of being someone who has often been outside of my comfort zone or placed in new situations is the ability to roll with the punches, so to speak. Whatever the unsettled state of my life, I have always longed to find a settled and comfortable place. Hopefully, God willing, there will be a place where I can settle down and develop roots for a long time. Until then, I suppose I should seek to continue to enjoy where I am as best as possible. And given I have found myself in a warm and friendly and hospitable place, I intend on doing just that. Without God’s help I cannot succeed, and with His aid I cannot fail.

[1] See, for example, https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2012/10/10/a-review-of-the-2012-feast-of-tabernacles-at-redmond-bend-oregon/