We Belong To Each Other!

"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten we belong to each other" Those words from Mother Teresa, can be thought about in many different ways. Certainly we all have a sense of belonging. That fact is apparent in our families, friends, churches and business structures. It really is important to us to belong to someone or something, for it gives us the comfort of knowing we are not in this life drama alone. We have a physical connection with others who are similar to ourselves, that brings us love, laughter, rewards, as well as anger, pain and judgement. We balance all these emotions within our individual consciousness and project our own type of peace into our world. We take a great deal of satisfaction knowing that we have made peace with all those immediately around us. Our lives have purpose. We have a sense of unity.
I took part in a writers tele-conference last night, and there were some technical difficulties that prevented the moderator to hook into the call. Graciously, one of the other participants took over the conference, and tried to help connect the person who was having problems getting in. Most of the people on the call(about 20) didn't know each other personally, we had each read something the others had written, but that was all we knew of each other. When the temporary moderator tried to get our original leader connected, the rest of us on the call were disconnected, and it happened twice. Rather than being frustrated, annoyed or angry about the situation, each participant called back to continue the conference. On the third attempt, our original moderator was on line and we began our discussion, and had a wonderful meeting and learned some things that would have been missed if we would have just not called back and forgot about the whole thing.
The point being, here we were a group of strangers for the most part, wanting to connect and have this feeling of belonging, just to learn and do it peacefully. We belonged to each other and shared our well-being in the form of writing. We had formed a new family so to speak, that now has a sense of togetherness.
Mother Teresa knew what she meant when she said those words. She looked at the larger picture of who we are, and how we treat each other. It is easier to belong to the ones closest to you, but what about those we don't seem to understand? Those we are in physical conflict with?
We do belong to them, just as much as the strangers I met last night. We resolved our differences in communication peacefully, and learned from the experience. We learned something new about each other and formed a respect that will continue, as we grow. Just by thinking outside of our range of comfort, we change our world. We become a grander version of ourselves. We live to share ourselves in gratitude and love. We begin to remember who we really are. We have the peace that Mother Teresa had, and continues to share.