Belonging is difficult to define; it's a big concept, and there are plenty of nuanced layers and levels and lenses to consider. Though there will always be more to say, on the surface, I think of belonging as acceptance, inclusion, the feeling of being at home. If I dig a little deeper, I find I long to belong because, when I do, my most authentic self is safe and secure.

And if I dig deeper still, I come to see the ways belonging and identity are very much intertwined. It seems to me that belonging not only helps to shape my identity; it is a part of it. And if belonging is a part of who I am, then I wonder if belonging isn't somewhere "out there," but always right here, deep down within. While belonging is not something tangible we hold in our hands, maybe it is still something we possess; something we take with us everywhere we go.

Often, though, it is something I forget. Even though belonging is my birthright, I live like I've left it behind. I swerve and scramble, trying to fit in, impress, compete, succeed. I grow anxious and frazzled, bitter and distressed, searching and grasping for something that's already mine. Maybe you can relate?

What does it mean to take our belonging with us? To remember the God-given reality of who we already are—beloved and beheld by God? Listen in.

Renee Davis Meyer from Belonging and Becoming

remind{h}er 157: Psalm 84

remind{h}er 56: What Helps You Remember?

remind{h}er 75 and remind{h}er 76: Hold On to Who You Are

remind{h}er 106: Tune In

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Today, we turn to a simple reading of Psalm 84. This psalm is known as a pilgrimage psalm and was often sung by people traveling to Jerusalem to worship. As we enter into these summer months, when trips and travel are common for many, I thought this particular psalm might be fitting.

Throughout the episode, you are invited to listen and notice what you notice. Once the reading is through, I'll offer a few questions for reflection, as you consider the reminders God might have for you in this passage. Feel free to pause, to rewind, or even revisit as you see fit. As always, I hope it serves you well.

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When there is someone I don't like, someone I don't understand, someone I don't agree with—I have a tendency to assume the worst of them. I dig in my heels and keep them at arms length. After all, there's no possible way we could relate. And if Jesus wants something to do with me, he couldn't possibly want anything to do with them…right?

And so I become a sort of gatekeeper rather than stepping aside and making room for others to be a part. I forget that transformation is always possible, whether I see the potential for it or not. Whether I see my own need for it or not.

The truth is, Jesus wants something to do with each of us and all of us. So who are we to stand in the way? And what might our role actually be?

Listen in.

remind{h}er 155: Luke 19:1-10

Untamed by Alan and Debra Hirsch

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Today, I'm offering a simple reading from the Gospel of Luke. This particular passage tells the story of Jesus and his encounter with a man named Zacchaeus. This might be a familiar passage for you {maybe you're even humming an old familiar tune?}; or it might be totally fresh and new.

Either way, you are invited to listen and notice what you notice. Once the reading is through, I'll offer a few questions for reflection, as you consider the reminders God might have for you in this passage. Feel free to pause, to rewind, or even revisit as you see fit. As always, I hope it serves you well.

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Where is God?

That's the question we're exploring today.

When the difficult diagnosis isn't cured, when the prayer remains unanswered, when the loneliness is unbearable, when tragedy strikes, when a person or people are treated as "less than," when war wages on, when our hearts are broken, when there is no end in sight. In circumstances like these, Where is God is a reasonable question.

When the world wonders where God is, as followers of Jesus, we get to remind them. We get to say, "God is right here, right now. Let me show you."

What might that look like? Listen in.

Heather Thompson Day

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Today, as we return to our regular schedule with brand new episodes, I'm offering a simple reading of Colossians 3:12-17. If you are listening in real time, we just wrapped up our first ever Circle Back series, where we returned to previous remind{h}ers that aired at some point over the past six years. In the most recent Circle Back episode, we went back to the very beginning. And in that very first remind{h}er, I referenced this same passage.

Six years later, I'd forgotten. And what's interesting is that, in my own life recently, this passage has come to mind over and over and over again, in various different contexts and circumstances. So when I heard it once more while preparing our Circle Back series, I thought, perhaps, we're meant to take a closer look.

I'll have more to say in our next episode, but for now, you are invited to simply listen and notice what you notice. I wholeheartedly believe that God's Spirit inspired the writing of Scripture thousands of years ago, and I wholeheartedly believe God's Spirit inspires us as its readers today. So, once the reading is through, I'll offer a few questions for reflection, as you consider the reminders God might have for you in this passage. Feel free to pause, to rewind, or even revisit as you see fit. As always, I hope it serves you well.

{CIRCLE BACK} remind{h}er 01: You Are A Reminder

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Today, we are circling back to the very beginning with remind{h}er 01: You Are a Reminder. This episode aired six years ago, at the beginning of April 2020.

I remember being so excited, so very nervous, and so so certain that this podcast was something I was being called to offer. I can hear all of that in my voice {my voice! It sounds SO different!}, and I am so proud of that version of myself for taking that little leap of faith and trying something new.

We're circling back to this very first episode for a few different reasons, but mostly, this episode is really the heartbeat of the entire podcast. I wholeheartedly believe all of us and each of us are invited and called to be living reminders of the presence and love of God in the world around us. That is the whole point. And I don't want us to forget it.

Listen in!

remind{h}er 01: You Are a Reminder

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Today we are circling back to remind{h}er 133: Remember Who You've Been. This episode originally aired March 26, 2025, and it is the most recent episode we will circle back to in this series.

Even though it's only been about a year, I couldn't NOT circle back to this one because it ties in so well with our circle back theme. When we intentionally circle back, we are invited to remember previous versions or iterations of ourselves and to trace the transforming presence and faithfulness of God all throughout our lives.

The invitation throughout this series remains: who have you become since your last listen? Or if it's your first listen, who have you become since it originally aired?

Listen in.

remind{h}er 133: Remember Who You've Been

You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith

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Today we are circling back to remind{h}er 67: God Can Handle Our Anger. This episode originally aired on March 16, 2022.

I remember writing and recording this episode back then and I remember feeling very vulnerable while doing so. When I think of anger, I think big and loud and intimidating and obvious, kind of like the personified version of Anger in Pixar's Inside Out. And while that can certainly be true, the anger I shared about in this episode felt more intimate than intimidating; more quiet and subtle, not quite bubbling over, but definitely boiling just beneath the surface. Exploring that kind of anger felt like a risk.

And yet, in my work as a spiritual director since this original recording, I've been reminded many times that that kind of anger is not uncommon. That many of us struggle with what to do with the mad that we feel. So it feels like a good move to circle back and explore our anger once again. Listen in.

remind{h}er 67: God Can Handle Our Anger

What Do You Do With the Mad That You Feel?

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Today, we are circling back to remind{h}er 112: Remember We Are Dust. This episode originally aired two years ago, on February 14, 2024, which happened to be Ash Wednesday that year. If you are listening in real time now in 2026, today is Ash Wednesday, too.

Similar to our last Circle Back episode, two years later it seems this message still rings true. It's a reminder that continues to haunt me in the very best way. It's a reminder I know we continue to need.

As we begin the season of Lent, I hope this Ash Wednesday episode {once again!} serves you well. And if you're just now finding it and Ash Wednesday and/or Lent is through, I hope it serves you well, too.

Listen in.

remind{h}er 112: Remember We Are Dust

Barbie written and directed by Greta Gerwig

In a Year of Death, Ash Wednesday Offers Unexpected Hope by Tish Harrison Warren {Correction: in this episode, I mistakenly share that this article was published in 2023. It was published in Christianity Today in 2021}

If You Knew by Ellen Bass

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