Home

Isn't it great to feel comfortable somewhere; to feel secure and relaxed; to be grounded in a place and know your surroundings; to be familiar with the smell, colour, sounds.
I've been at home for a couple of days recently.
I know that on a sunny day I can lie on the bed and read in the afternoon and watch the trees sway in the breeze, see a couple of rosella's fly by and doze off for 20 minutes or more.

It's challenging to feel out of place; to be not at home; to be surrounded by the unfamiliar. You find yourself hyper-alert, forced to make uncomfortable decisions out of necessity.
I just started a new job this week; working with new people; in new places; with new expectations placed upon me.

It must be strange to be at home, but not at home at the same time.

Here's some thoughts from the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:1-10.

"Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad."


This reminds me of, tunes me into, the discordance that is part of our experience as Christians. Somedays I feel it intensely. Other days, I need to be encouraged not to forget it.