During our many hikes in the mountains, my husband and I have come unawares upon snakes, bears, moose, elk, deer, beavers, snowshoe hairs, pine martens.

It’s rare for us to see them before they see us. Most of the time they’re already moving away into thicker vegetation.

My son encountered a female grizzly bear up in Denali National Park. She sized him up and dismissed him with a snort.

Animals survive for the most part by not being noticed. Because there’s always something bigger and nastier on the prowl, most animals will avoid notice if at all possible.

Humans are not like that. We survive by being noticed. Just think about how you feel when you first visit a church. Most people will form a negative or positive judgment about the church based on if someone noticed them and gave them some attention. (I know that I die a little inside when I attend a new organization and am ignored.)

God made us that way. It’s not a bad thing. We’re supposed to crave each others love and attention. Just as the apostle Paul said, “…so in Christ, we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” (Eph. 4:25 NIV Bible)

If you are a believer and are not part of a Body, know that this is rarely Christ’s intent for you. He wants you to be part of a worshiping and serving body. You may have been hurt by someone at church and have withdrawn in anger or fear.

But your emotional—indeed, ultimately, your physical—survival depends on:

• Noticing and being noticed. Loving and being loved. Helping and being helped.
• Finding significance by using your gifts for others.
• Worshiping together with the knowledge that you are part of the Bride of Christ.
• Joining with others to do good works which might be impossible by yourself.

We were made for togetherness.

Don’t hunker down and hide like the bunnies on your lawn! Join a loving body of believers and grow your relationships.

“They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts…”  (Acts 2:46 NIV Bible)