Tuesday, July 2, 2013

tribe :: being seen

{via pinterest}
i think i have found the most beautiful word :: tribe. 

and honestly, it's a word i used to hate. there was this movie we watched when i was younger. i don't even remember the name. but this woman called her children "the Lacey tribe" and never told people all their names because "life is short and time is precious."

and it made me feel strange, unsettled, even when i was eight. because why wouldn't time be precious enough to list off your own children's names? why lump them into this vile thing...this tribe?

and then i realized something for the very first time, just yesterday, at almost twenty-three years old :: being part of a tribe is about being known.  to take the idea and make it about being identity-forgotten, to strip away the you-light from this candelabra of tribehood, is to destroy the very essence of what it is to be.

because the Lion sang tribes into existence from the soul of the man who wrapped himself in fur and lied, who worked fourteen years for love, who dared to wrestle in the hour of his unknown. and from him there came twelve, and from one came the One. and there is something so precious, so unique about each tribal voice that led to the breathing of the Most High.

being in a tribe, finding your circle and your family of exhale :: it's about being see. it's about gazing and locking eyes with another, the brush of fingers over your cheek to leave a soft painted blessing on your skin.


{via pinterest}
// because you're seen. 

it's not about being smooshed into some sort of grey-hued mass where you blend in, where you simply are. it's about the circling of arms around you as sisters braid your hair and wind your neck with colour. and there in the caves with the soft lap of the water against the stones, the light flicking and the Light flowing from He-Who-Sees gathered in their midst. 

we see you, unique one. 
we know your name. 

and i know theirs. because i'm their family, and they are mine. and we take the time to see their lives and call each soul by name. just as the Lion who sang the stars, one burning flicker of light at a time, and whispered their names in the darkness. 

dearest daughter, 
I have known you long. 

4 comments:

  1. oh yes. yes. linking arms with you, my heart sister. <3

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  2. tribe is a great word...it implies that you look out for each other, that you will feed each other and care for one another...its much like family for me only one step out of that circle...and it is not about losing your own identity but using it for the good of the whole...

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  3. This reminded me of something I saw something in 1 John 1 that I'd never seen before. When we (together - in community) walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship (being known) with each other, AND the blood of Jesus cleanses us! When we are in community, we are cleansed! Loved hearing your thoughts here!
    Hugs,
    Michelle

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  4. oh how lovely, this idea of being part of a tribe! of being known and of belonging somewhere... we are the tribe of Jesus... of the cross. love you dear rachel. xo

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I look at you and see all the ways a soul can bruise, and I wish I could sink my hands into your flesh and light lanterns along your spine so you know there's nothing but light when I see you. :: Shinji Moon