Home

I heard a great sermon the other day at church, where the minister reflected on the possibility that all of us are on a journey “home”. I’ve read about this in other places as well, but it really struck me this time that this rings true to me.

“Home” in the minister’s sermon referred to being home with God, or back with God after our earthly life has passed. He eloquently reflected that it seemed our entire lives were spent trying to get back to a place we’ve never really known, yet instinctively know is our true home.

The last ten years or so of my life, I’ve really felt this tug or pull to go back home. There’s been such a spiritual longing inside of me, a need to find answers, a need for truth, that I do wonder if my internal compass pointing me in the direction of God was turned on a few years back. It’s a longing inside of me for more, more than what earthly life can offer, that drives me to know more about God.

I wonder if we humans all have this longing, a desire to know God, a desire to be at one with Him? Evidence exists that we do, namely in the Self Help section of your local bookstore. The shelves almost literally groan from the weight of all the Self Help books that promise the way to emotional, financial, or spiritual freedom. More titles are released seemingly every single month. Think the Self Help industry would be booming if there wasn’t a desire by a lot of people to figure life out? I think not.

I do wonder if God installed in our DNA an internal compass that does indeed point in the direction of home. If He didn’t, then why is there such a hue and cry from folks, all around the world, to figure out the answers to life’s greatest questions, namely who are we and why are we here? Perhaps we are to use this mortal life to figure out for our own these answers. When we do, then maybe we will truly be “home”.

I know I yearn to know more, that I really do want to know the answers. I guess I want to go home as badly as the next person. Maybe, if we use the analogy of school, this earthly life is to be spent learning the answers, and figuring things our on our own. When we do, and I do actually believe that we all do, even if its at the very end, then we are able to graduate from this life, and move back home.

I cannot for the life of me imagine a more glorious ending then to be back home with God. I hope with every fiber in my being that I do get to arrive back home, and be with Him for eternity. I hope that for every person on this planet.
But, what are we to do now, right here in the present? Are we truly separated from God, just because we are not home with Him on another plane of existence? Does that really mean that this life is merely drudgery, or “homework”, until finally we figure it all out and move back home with Pop?

Maybe what being home with God really means is simply opening our hearts to Him, and letting Him come back home to us. Maybe we’ve all been under the illusion, simply because we are all encased in these bodies of ours, that we are separate from God, when in fact, if we but let Him back in to our hearts, nothing could be further from the truth.

Maybe, just maybe, we can be home with God at this exact moment. Perhaps the longing we feel is merely a call from Him to open our hearts and minds to His love, so that He can heal our wounds. I know for one that I would welcome Him back into my heart, and do welcome Him now.

Could it really be true that “home is where the heart is” after all?

-The Minister