Wild mushrooms grow all over my neighborhood this time of year, and nearly always they appear in circles, sometimes big, sometimes small. Even though this phenomenon has ties to ancient European folklore, when I see it, I only think of one thing.

Life is better lived together.

That’s what these mushrooms teach me. Life is better when we intentionally connect, when we circle up in relationship with other people. Life is better when we intentionally choose, when we embrace vulnerability by sharing our good days and bad days, even if it seems risky at the time and especially if it takes a double-shot of brave. It’s what we all need, after all, to do life together with others. We weren’t created to be an “island entire of itself,” as the poet John Donne writes. No, God created us “in His own image” as relational beings just as He is a relational being (Genesis 1:27).

Therefore, as you seek God today, ask Him to help you step out in faith and pursue relationships with others. Ask Him to show you who to connect with, when, and how. If you have many friends already, perhaps He’s calling you to take notice of the marginalized, the lonely, that woman on the sidelines and pull her into your circle. But if you’re altogether tribeless, for whatever reason that might be, there are so many, I want you to know I see you today. These words are for you. I pray you feel seen. I pray you feel known. Because you are deeply loved, valued, significant, and irreplaceable to Jesus. He will be your tribe, a “friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24). And if you lean into Him, He will help you. He will lead you to a community where you can belong.

*First published by The Joyful Life Magazine.