Circle the Wagons

Of course I walked today!  It's apparently my time to think.  And weird things start to happen when I think.  You know that already.

I noticed a bus advertisement for the local newspaper.  They're encouraging people to sign up for, what they call, the "Inner Circle".  This group of people receive all kinds of new "benefits" with their membership.  I started to consider the human need to belong.

There are a number of psychological and social reasons why "belonging" is so important to us.

We find identity and even self-esteem by belonging to groups that think and act like we do. Sometimes, we get more work done in groups as we leverage the ideas, thoughts and collective cooperation resulting from membership.

"Circle the Wagons" typically indicates that we are closing in and protecting the members of our group. This would shield the members against any real and/or perceived threat to our work, religion, ethnicity, politics or any other area of our life.

"Circle the Wagons" protects.  It also excludes.  If you're a Republican, you're NOT a Democrat.  If you're out of the circle, you'll never be IN the circle.  If your group is right, all other groups MUST be wrong.

Although it goes against group mentality, I'd like to think (maybe dream is more appropriate) of memberships serving a purpose without building a wall.  I wonder if sometimes, a dialogue might alleviate this perceived threat and directly lead to benefits for both groups.  Perhaps, instead circling our wagons, we line them up.

Today, a bus sign helped me to remember:

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  Galatians 3:28