Home: Some thoughts while in transition... By Alicia Hill |
I've often found the phrase "Home is where the heart is" to be a quite confusing statement. Assuming that my home is in Binghamton, NY, then I have to say that my heart is elsewhere about 90% of the time. In fact, the longer I live somewhere other than Binghamton, the less my heart feels at home there. If my home is where my heart is, and my heart is with the people that I love, then my home is basically on all seven continents... well, six anyway... I'm not so connected to Antartica these days. John Donne wrote a poem in which a man was consoling his lover upon his leaving her for some time. He argued that they were not two souls, but one soul and that upon separation they "endured not yet/ A breach, but an expansion,/ Like gold to aery thinness beat" ("A Valediction: Forbiding Mourning"). Like gold to airy thinness beat... sure, it's still gold, but certainly there is a point that gold will shatter if it becomes too thin... I have long lived controlled by the fear of that shattering. In fact, it specifically consumed me for much of my two years in China. As much comfort as I found from the truths in the Bible of God being my strong tower and solid rock, I still lived as if when it come down to it, He would fail me. Last summer I prayed through that fear with one of the pastors from my church... I wish that I could verbalize the freedom that I tasted as a restult. This morning I read a different translation of a very familiar verse. The thoughts that went through my head as I processed this idea seem to explain what this freedom means to me. "Make your home in Me, as I make Mine in you." John 15:4 "Make your home in Me..." Home: n. one's place of residence; the social unit formed by a family living together; a familiar or usual setting; a place of origin. I love this picture. To be at home in Christ... It's something that I plan on pondering for quite some time... I love the intimacy of it... "... as I make Mine in you." sigh... finally I understand that yes, my home is where my heart is. To close, here are the lyrics to a song that meant much to me during my years in China in particular. I like to sing it loud and with conviction. "HOME" by Hillsong
Into your courts I run with praises flowing from my heart. Every day I wake I sing your song, it's the anthem of my life. I wanna spend my days in your prescence Lord, bowed before your throne. In the house of God is where I've found my peace, it's where I've found my Home In heaven, Lord one day I will live. In your courts you'll find me, in worship at your feet. Hide me now, in the shadow of your wings. Where we'll be, where we'll be.
Your love is all I need,
so desparatly I have sung your fame. I know you hear my every cry, the petition that I make. Jesus, oh you are my treasure Home Home. |