For years and years I chased their cheers, the crazy speed of always needing more. But when I stop and see you here I remember who all this was for. And from now on, these eyes will not be blinded by the lights. From now on, what’s waited till tomorrow starts tonight. Let this promise in me start like an anthem in my heart…. from now on, home again.

Two Decembers ago, The Greatest Showman premiered in theaters. Though the history behind the tale is not nearly so beautiful (in fact, it is quite troubling), the movie paints a picture that is incredibly powerful.

Imagine building a community of all of the misfits and outcasts. Imagine that community finding its voice and bringing life to the people around it. Now imagine that you have a chance to join them.

Here’s the truth that this movie sparked within many of us: all of us are the misfits, at least in some way. Just about all of us have experienced some time when we have been cast out by another. And most of us are quirky, funny, different. Or as the main anthem from the movie suggests – we are brave, we are bruised. We are…

Imagine a place where we can actually be who we really are.

The song above is probably what can be considered the “secondary anthem” of the movie. It is the moment when the main character realizes how wrong he has been: motivated by ambition no matter how many people he had to trample upon to get to the top. He realizes that there has already been a community of people around him who loved him. A home that he helped to create. A home to which he now desires to return.

Whether we admit it or not, all of us want to go home again. Maybe not to the place where we were raised, but most certainly to a place where we belong. We need that community. We need that belonging. We need that acceptance.

My hope for all of us, as the season of Lent begins today, is that we will find our way back home – wherever that may be. Be it a family of faith. Be it a group of friends. Be it to our home town. May we all see the love that we need in our midst. May we be that love for one another. And maybe we will all finally get to where we belong from now on.

Scene from the Greatest Showman  (please forgive the subtitles)