"Home is where the heart is…" which is to say that it might not be where we expect. Have you ever had that sense of "deja vu" when you feel like you have been some place or in some situation before? Maybe it was in a dream, or in a similar circumstance. Or maybe you simply walked into someone's home and felt "at home" regardless of where it is.
I have found that churches and groups affect me that way. I either feel immediately comfortable, or not. Like my "comfy clothes." Or like the dream of bedroom slippers that I had last night. You know, the type that don't touch your feet but are all soft and fluffy? Soft. Home. Comfortable. Warm. Wherever. Close-to-home, even if "home" has not been experienced in a long while. Home-making is hard work, whoever does it. It is especially hard when it is combined with making-a-living. Finding time to learn and teach the art of comfort is a skill that haunts and sometimes eludes us. It is about igniting and sustaining a way of living that feeds our souls while affording shelter for rest. No wonder that our hearts long for the images that we see, the smells that we remember, and sounds that we grew up with. Fruits of family and friends. It is time to seek them all and find a new home for our hearts in honor of those whose love gave us life.
(c) 2011 Janine C. Hagan, Spiritual Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.