A baby harp seal in its fluffy white coat blends in with the snow, making it almost invisible to predators. But to its mother, each little seal is instantly identifiable, and she is drawn to the scent of the one baby, amidst all the others, that belongs to her. So long as its mother is alive, no young harp seal is really alone.
Who will you find, so long as they need you? Who will come find you if you are in need?
In a tiny village, each person is very visible to their neighbors, while the town is invisible to the larger world. In a great city no one knows all the people who surround them, but the city is recognized everywhere. And yet, each human soul, known and unknown, is of equal worth.
Where do you feel known? Where do you feel invisible?
“One definition of eternity is that we are not alone on this planet, that there are those who’ve gone before and those who will come, and that there is a community of spirits.”
—Rita Dove
Who would you name as important members of your personal community of spirits?
“The smallest indivisible human unit is two people, not one; one is a fiction. From such nets of souls societies, the social world, human life springs.”
―Tony Kushner
To what “ nets of souls” do you belong?
“One of these things is not like the other,” they used to sing on Sesame Street, “one of these things just doesn’t belong.” The game was to guess what item didn’t fit as part of a set. But they sing the song differently now. The good folks of Sesame Street have figured out that being different from those around you doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t belong.
Is there anywhere in your life where you are obviously different from others in your “set,” yet you still feel that you belong?
