A Look at Belonging

I was looking at a recent journal for alums, which came from one of the institutions I attended.  This one was from Harvard Divinity School.  The Seminary was a very good next step for me when I was finished with my undergraduate degree.  Clearly it has world-class resources---more resources than I ever had have since being there.  One of the most amazing resources was the group of people with whom I associated.  Being an Indiana farm boy, that experience at Harvard was a growing, stretching time.  It helped me become the person I am.    

When I look at a journal from my alma mater---whether it be undergraduate or graduate institutions---I have some interest about what’s going on and what kind of work is being done.  Of course, it has been so long since I was in school, all the actors are different.  Some of them I know because I have met them along the way, but most of the faculty and staff are not people I know.  A person who fits this category is the Dean of Harvard’s Divinity School, David N. Hempton.  

Hempton is a social historian and focuses his interest on the evangelical traditions in this country and Europe.  It was not Hempton, but the title of his small article, that immediately drew me to read it.  The title read, “Hempton: Belonging at Harvard.”  I was attracted to this because the concept of belonging is central in my spirituality.  In fact I like to link belonging with identity and meaning to call these three the core issues of spirituality.  I see these three---belonging, identity and meaning---as a key to happiness and well-being.  Without them my life will not be much fun.  In fact, it can be pointless.  

I found Hempton’s succinct thoughts to be perceptive and worth pondering.  Basically he makes five points when describing belonging.  I would like to share all five, recognizing it is not possible to develop any of these with depth.  The first thing that intrigued me was the idea of belonging is not only a thing the Divinity School is giving focus.  Apparently, it is a University-wide focus.  How interesting, I thought: Harvard is concerned about belonging!  So am I.  

My intrigue deepened when Hempton began with the familiar quip we hear from people: “You know, I feel that I really belong here.”  I am sure most institutions of higher education have people saying that about their institution.  I know that is true of students at my college.  But what really does belonging mean?  And why is it important?  Hempton helps me see what’s at stake.  

The first thing Hempton does is the obvious.  He points to how the theme of belonging comes in the Christian tradition to mean belonging to the Church, often understood as the Body of Christ.  He says, “To belong, in this Christian sense, is to become part of a collective body of mutually dependent people of equal value who commit to a community values statement rooted in the values we have just mentioned.”  We could spend a long time unpacking this sentence.  This gives me much to ponder.  

Let’s look at each of the five components of belonging, as Hempton lays them out.  The first he calls “the ethical component.”  Whatever we belong to has to have a “morally compelling reason” for belonging.  I agree with this and have treated this in some of my own work.  Secondly, Hempton identifies the “human component of belonging.”  Here we deal with the “acceptance of our own failings and those of others.”  Of equal interest to me here is Hempton’s insistence that we also have a sense of “self-acceptance.”  Again, that makes a great deal of sense.  Without this, we may be hoping to belong for the wrong kinds of reasons, i.e. to gain a sense of identity.  

The third component goes to the heart of my own work.  Hempton calls this “the social justice component.”  Hempton articulates this in a powerful way: “We cannot belong anywhere where we know people in our community are being humiliated or diminished or treated with disrespect.”  The good news is we can learn this and learn to act justly.  The fourth component recognizes that belonging is part of the human fabric of being.  Hempton labels this one “the universal longing component.”  I suspect this is true.  And if it is true, then some of our work building community is to appeal to this universal longing in folks.  

The final component of belonging is the “responsible component.”  This is one I work on a great deal with students.  Hempton puts it starkly when he acknowledges, “As long as we are content to stand aloof from community with a critical spirit of detachment and disengagement we will never belong.”  This is a powerful recognition that belonging requires a willingness to commit and to take the responsibilities of that commitment.  I think this is an issue in contemporary American culture.    

Hempton has given us a great deal to ponder.  I find it very helpful because long ago I recognized my own desire to be part of a community.  That longing was deep in my heart.  I did not know all the dynamics, as Hempton has laid them out.  But I know I have lived out those dynamics in my own life.  Furthermore, I know this continues to be at stake in my teaching as I express to students my own hope to have our classes become community.    

Thanks to Hempton and a new look at belonging, I have more understanding how community forms with a sense of belonging.