Americans have strong opinions on who belongs and who doesn’t. In conversations around citizenship and immigration, it’s the fundamental question — who belongs?
But belonging is also at issue in other questions, such as which Americans have the right to living wages? Which Americans have the right to privacy in regard to medical care? Or which American lives are we willing to sacrifice for the right to bear arms?
The recent election has revealed stark contrasts in our thinking on which Americans belong, or matter, and which don’t.
Islanders also have strong opinions about belonging. It appears as though the more Island history you have, the higher up you get to be in the pecking order. (A privilege which is not, ironically, consistently extended to descendants of the Island’s first inhabitants.)
Belonging is important because it’s one of the most essential parts of being human. It’s about our right to not just exist but take up space. To not just speak but to also be heard; to be accepted in community. So belonging exists somewhere between the tangible and the intangible, between internal feelings and external circumstances. Over the course of my life, I’ve been “the new guy” a number of times, and I’ve learned some things. First, be curious, but not overly eager. And don’t share your opinions before you’ve learned enough to have them. Expressing judgment before doing your homework is not smart. Second, my way of doing things is just that — my way. What’s normal for me is not a yard stick by which to measure other people’s normal. But at the same time, I’ve learned that outsiders can also belong. Outsiders, and their fresh perspectives, help communities to stay vibrant and maintain a healthy sense of themselves.
There’s a story in my faith tradition about workers in, funnily enough, a vineyard. Early one morning, the manager of the vineyard goes out to hire some day laborers. They agree on a wage, and get to work. As the day wears on, more workers are needed. So the manager goes out and hires them, some later in the morning, some in the afternoon, and another group closer to evening. At the end of the day, the manager pays all the workers the same daily wage, as agreed. Naturally, those who had been there from early morning think they should be paid more. But the manager points out that they all agreed to work for a day’s wage.
This story doesn’t seem fair at first. It’s equal pay, but unequal work, right? But that’s not really the point. Those who showed up later in the day aren’t lesser people, with lesser needs to feed their families, or pay their rent. (Who knows — maybe they got stuck off-Island when a boat got canceled. Not their fault!) But nor are those who’d been there all day entitled to special status because they happened to be at the right place at the right time. Each of the workers is equally valued, and equally valuable. Their worth is not based on work product or longevity — things which may be entirely a matter of luck.
Christians have sometimes messed this up. We have denied belonging and granted privileged status to people for superficial reasons. But when we get it right, we create welcoming communities which strengthen us and sustain us immeasurably. Whatever your beliefs, I hope you can find a community where you belong, a community which doesn’t determine belonging by accidents of circumstance, where you are given the space to speak and be heard, where your contributions are appreciated, and all work together for the good of the whole.
The results of the election notwithstanding, with a little commitment any community can be like this; even a nation, even an Island. If we have different histories, that doesn’t mean we can’t all belong. It just means there are things we can learn from each other. Artificial measures of status or belonging, accidents of birth — none of this gives anyone a right to claim more (or less) than they deserve. All of us have a stake in this. And all of us just want to belong.
Rev. Mark Winters is the pastor of the Federated Church of Martha’s Vineyard in Edgartown.
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