Everything Belongs
Underneath our feet, organisms that are neither plant nor animal are recreating the world. They are converting death to life, fighting disease, producing biomass into energy, while we ponder the great mysteries of our belonging. Without a proper spiritual formation or school education, Fungus knows it belongs. This nitrifying being, Mycorrhizal fungi, works all day and night as a mutualist amongst the tree roots. Its association with these roots helps supply all the nutrients needed to help trees flourish. Basically, fungus belongs because it belongs.
How are you doing with your sense of belonging? Do you find yourself moving around in a kind of bubble of self? I know I do. On reflection, most of my thoughts are geared towards my hunger, desires, fears, and fancies. Buddhists call this behavior, “selfing.” It is a natural part of our evolutionary development. Right now, especially, we are in survival mode. Our brains create a belief system to protect us. We perceive a separation of self and we set up limits. Instead of believing that we belong to each other, and the natural world, our fear contracts us, leaving us with the limiting belief that we don’t belong. We isolate further into our bubble. Our brains are miraculous machines, and unlike the brainless fungus, our minds can resist our inerrant belonging.
John O’Donohue, poet and mystic says,
“Our bodies know that they belong, it is our minds that make our lives so homeless.”
Our problem is not that we don’t belong. Our problem lies in our inability to accept our belonging. In the Bible, the story of the prodigal son reminds us that, “you are with me all the time, and everything I have is yours.” We are with our Creator all the time, and everything belongs.
Practicing habits of meditation, prayer, and rest can all be a step to recovering our belonging. For me, simple phrases like, “I belong. I am loved. I am love,“ can help me find my way back home. Other days, I need physical connection and verbal affirmation from others that this is really true. Limiting beliefs require extra effort to overcome, so be kind and gracious with yourself and the world. Remember the fungus when your ego gets inflated. You both belong. Remember the fungus when you get disconnected. It supplies nutrients and connects the soils underbelly network. How will you receive and supply connection today? You are all in my prayers as you find your way home every day. You, me and the fungus, we all belong!
With hope,
Nikki
