“There’s a river whose streams make glad the city of God…” Psalm 46
What comes to mind when you think of home? Not the place you grew up or your family of origin home, but that place you long to go now in real time, or in the imagination of your heart. When your soul grows weary, when the days grow long, when you close your eyes and dream, what place beckons you home?
Home may be a real place you’ve been before, or a sense that when you experience it, you’ll know it. Someone who loves me dearly once said, “I’m home wherever I am with you.”
Our home is heaven, on earth and beyond, that place where we live secure in the heart of God, that moment when we know without question who we are and to whom we belong. We’re hard-wired for God, some suggest our very DNA embeds this longing. St. Augustine writes in “Confessions”: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”
We humans share this restlessness for home, a dis-ease that there’s a better place. The serenity that sometimes seems just outside our grasp, may also dwell within our reach. Wherever you are today, whatever you’re up against or is up against you, God’s dwelling place waits for you.
Though your home may seem far away, God is close to you as breathing. Pause now, find a quiet spot: by the side of the road, in the corner of your office, a favorite chair at home. Place one hand on your heart and the other on your belly and close your eyes. Breathe deeply five times, holding your breath for five counts on the inhale and holding your breath five times on the exhale. Continue breathing deeply.
Remember the words of the Psalmist. “Be still and know that I am God.” Be still and know that I am. Be still and know. Be still. Be….
Welcome Home,
Dr. Anna V. Copeland
Senior Minister, The Community Church of Vero Beach, Florida
Beautiful and timely! Sallie Brooke
I so look forward to your weekly posts with the powerful message you have selected.
Thank you Dr. Anna