Dear Lord,

In this season of waiting and wonder,
let us see ourselves as you see us.

Help us to discover who we truly are
in your loving presence.

For it is in knowing ourselves as your beloved
that all other belonging begins.

Give us eyes to see the Divine that dwells within us,
ears to hear your still small voice,
and hearts open to receive your infinite love.

We ask this in the name of Jesus,
who came to show us who we truly are.

Amen.

THE EXPERIENCE OF UNBELONGING:

Let me tell you a story. Picture this: You’re standing in line at the airport during the Christmas rush. The terminal is packed with holiday travelers. Everyone around you is on their phone—scrolling, texting, checking in, checking out. The person next to you is video-chatting. Behind you, someone’s playing a game with the volume too loud. Across from you, a woman is frantically typing an email.

You look up. You’re surrounded by hundreds of people, and yet… you feel utterly alone.

Have you ever experienced that feeling of unbelonging—even when you’re in the middle of a crowd?

A few years ago, I traveled to Singapore during the Christmas holidays to visit my daughter and her family. Singapore is one of the most densely populated places on earth—18,500 people per square mile. From the 16th floor of my daughter’s apartment, I could see thousands of lit windows each evening. I would stand there at dusk, looking out, knowing that behind each glowing window, families were sharing their lives together, just as we were. Thousands of families. Tens of thousands of people. All so close.

But what struck me most was something else while riding the MRT, Singapore’s metro system. It’s efficient, clean, crowded. One evening, I boarded a train car with easily a hundred other passengers. I looked around. Of those hundred-plus people, only two of us weren’t staring at our phones. I was one of them.

It was surreal. We were all traveling together through this city, our bodies inches apart, swaying with the same movement of the train. And yet everyone was somewhere else—somewhere inside their devices. Disconnected from where they actually were. Disconnected from each other. Disconnected from themselves.

I call this strange phenomenon unbelonging. That feeling of being surrounded by people yet feeling completely separate. Present in body but absent in spirit.

I wonder if this is how we often experience our own lives. Present but not truly here. Connected to devices but disconnected from our deepest selves. Surrounded by activity but separate from what matters most.

 

REFLECTION MOMENT:

I’d like to invite you into a brief moment of reflection. Just sit with this question quietly in your heart. You don’t need to share anything aloud right now. Just notice.

When have you felt that sense of unbelonging? When you’re with people but not truly present with them—or when you’re not sure who you are in the midst of the crowd?

This feeling of unbelonging isn’t just about our disconnection from others. It’s often a symptom of something deeper: we’ve forgotten who we truly are.

And Advent—this season of waiting for the Incarnation—invites us back to the most fundamental truth about our identity.

About being with God. Being present. Being aware. Being.