Spiritual Life Week Forum Recap
03/26/2026
Throughout the presentation, Yoder highlighted the inherent tension between inclusion and exclusion, reminding the audience that 鈥渨here there is belonging, there are also those who don鈥檛 belong.
Spiritual Life Week Forum Addresses Our Duty to Embrace Neighbors
Rev. Phil Yoder challenged 麻豆女郎 students, faculty and staff to reconsider the role of belonging in their lives during the Spiritual Life Week Forum. Yoder reflected that while belonging is deeply desired and ingrained in us, it can come at a cost to others.
Opening with a familiar campus experience, the Yoder invited listeners to recall moments of uncertainty and isolation: 鈥淗ave you ever walked into the dining hall, looked around, had no idea where to sit?鈥 He suggested that beneath that experience lies a deeper question: 鈥淒o I belong here?鈥
The speaker defined this feeling as alienation, explaining, 鈥淎lienation is the feeling that you have when you scan the cafeteria, panicking, looking for a place to sit.鈥 While belonging is often seen as the solution to this discomfort, he encouraged the audience to examine it more critically.
鈥淏elonging is super important,鈥 he acknowledged, noting that it can 鈥渞educe anxiety, provide emotional safety, and it creates friendships that can support one another.鈥 However, he emphasized that belonging is not without consequences. 鈥淵es, we need belonging, but鈥 the quest to belong can harm others.鈥
Throughout the presentation, Yoder highlighted the inherent tension between inclusion and exclusion, reminding the audience that 鈥渨here there is belonging, there are also those who don鈥檛 belong.鈥 He added, 鈥淓very time there鈥檚 an inside, there鈥檚 an outside,鈥 underscoring how communities, even unintentionally, can push others to the margins.
He suggested that this dynamic is often driven not by malice, but by fear. 鈥淧eople are usually not awful to others because they鈥檙e simply awful people, but because they are anxious about not belonging,鈥 he said.
Using cultural examples, including the film 鈥淢ean Girls,鈥 he illustrated how the desire to belong can shape behavior and identity. Even when individuals achieve belonging, he noted, it does not resolve deeper feelings of isolation.
Drawing from the Bible, Yoder offered an alternative framework centered not on belonging, but on presence. He described how Jesus consistently aligned himself with those on the margins, choosing connection over social acceptance.
This distinction led to one of the central ideas of the Forum: 鈥淭his is the difference between belonging and presence: Belonging says, 鈥榖e like me鈥. Presence says, 鈥業鈥檒l stay with you, even when we are different.鈥欌
Rather than seeking to eliminate alienation through belonging, the speaker encouraged the Bluffton community to become more aware of who may be excluded in the process. He posed a simple but challenging question: 鈥淲ho are we leaving out? Who鈥檚 not invited?鈥
Concluding the presentation, Yoder emphasized that belonging alone cannot fulfill the human need for connection. 鈥淏elonging never satisfies, but presence stays,鈥 he said, inviting listeners to consider how they might show up for others鈥攅specially those on the fringes鈥攚ith intentional presence and care.