Home

"Home is the one place in all this world where hearts are sure of each other. It is the place of confidence. It is the place where we tear off that mask of guarded and suspicious coldness which the world forces us to wear in self-defense, and where we pour out the unreserved communications of full and confiding hearts. It is the spot where expressions of tenderness gush out without any sensation of awkwardness and without any dread of ridicule." ~Frederick W. Robertson

Home.

That little four letter word contains a universe of meaning.

My physical home for the last 26 years (New York, then Pennsylvania) has been a long way from the place where I was born and raised.(Texas) I have resisted feeling at home in exile all these years, and my desire to return "home" persists.

Why is that feeling of culture, experience, and memories so compelling? My dear husband speaks about a sense of place that is quickly disappearing among the youth in a very mobile culture. I doubt that the phrase, "always remember where you came from", has any current meaning. It did in previous generations. It summed up the type of character you possessed based on the culture that produced it.  And it does for me now as I long to return to my home, my culture some day. Yet, I know when I do, it will not be the same.  We will both have changed.

But there is an even greater pull on my heart, the call of Heaven.  The place where the Trinity dances in joy at the thought of my arrival. A place that does not change, for the unchanging God dwells there.  A place of righteousness.

There will be no tears, no sorrow, no infirmity, no loss, no injustice, no lies, no loneliness. My family of faith will all be there and it will be the best reunion ever. And there will be a wedding feast. Christ will finally embrace His spotless bride, the church. The celebration will last for eternity.  My soul will find rest.

Home.

It is in my heart's longing for Texas that I have found a small taste of my spirit's longing for Heaven, for Christ, for God.

My true home.

  ¹¹Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives ¹²as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.^[b]That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. ¹³But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.2 Peter 3:11-13 (NIV

Eternity

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV)

I claim my lifelong optimism as a result of seeing Disney's Pollyanna. Pollyanna's outlook just seemed to be right, at least it fit into the character of a Christian as I had been taught.

In my twenties, I found myself reading Ecclesiastes and hoping I would never turn into a sour old person. I just didn't have enough life experience to understand that "sourness" was wisdom.

At the age of 60something, I identify with the writer of Ecclesiastes. He's right. The things of this world are ephemeral, their joy does not last. I love the note on this verse in the NIV Study Bible,

God's beautiful but tantalizing world is too big for us, yet its satisfactions are too small. Since we are made for eternity, the things of time cannot fully and permanently satisfy.

More and more I understand De Chardin, that I am a not a "human being having a spiritual experience but a spiritual being having a human experience."   We all are.

I also find the verse written by a seeming curmudgeon to be very hopeful. God has set eternity in my heart. My longing for justice, for reconciliation, for truth are evidences of His life in mine.  They are remnants of the glory in which he created Adam and Eve.  The ruins of what once was.

The promise of what will be again.

I am grateful for that. And for the wisdom of a sour old man. "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."

All except for that part of Christ, of His eternal Life, that dwells in my heart.

Naked

When the Lamb of God, the Word with and by which everything was made that was made, came to earth, He came here naked.

When Jesus, King of the Jews, Savior of all, hung on the cross, he hung there naked.

There is something supremely unsettling about the word "naked". It usually conjures up an embarrassed laugh or two, followed by shame, a distasteful sense of vulnerability, and fear.

There is also a sense of holiness, we turn away in reverence.

But if we are to truly emulate our Redeemer, we must be willing to come to our sinful, selfish, scary relationships naked. We must cast aside our fig leaves of pretension and agenda and let others see who we really are, warts and all. That is the way of true humility, the way Jesus entered our lives, and the way we enter the lives of others.

When we do, we find ourselves seated and in His right mind, clothed in the robes of grace.

Jesus was willing to bare and bear all for us. Can we do anything less for Him?

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  Colossians 3:12-13