I don't know why these words from Psalm 87 touch me so much.Is there a more tender,meaningful word than home?My arms feel a bit weak as I type this,almost as if I am treading on holy ground.Home.
I have a dear, unlikely friend who I have known for many years.We visited Kris and her husband in Puerto Rico this March.I could feel a longing in her for a Georgia Spring and was overjoyed to find that she is to move back here in a short while.She wrote..."why not be near family ?"Indeed.
My first home on Long Island was a small red brick cape that I have spoken of often.I have called it a tight,gloomy ship to sail on and it was and still it was wonderful.Many friends, trees and colors of spring around the streets.I lived there for 23 years and it will always have a hold on me.When we go to New York, we always drive by and I am never unmoved.This is the womb where I grew,where I exulted in music,sang all day long and first read Nancy Drew and "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn".
Since then, we have lived in Denver,California,Kentucky and for most of the time,in Georgia.We once left here and moved to a house on a marsh on a secluded island in South Carolina and for a year I walked around in a daze as if my right arm was missing.Such a bad fit for me,just one state over.
Psalm 87 is talking about the home of the chosen people which is the shining city of Jerusalem..."They shall note when the peoples are enrolled there :""This man was born there.""And all shall sing ,in their festive dance:""My home is within you.""Ps.87:6-7
This is why I think I am feeling this scripture so deeply.Our home really is not here and because of that we are never completely "at home" or satisfied,even in the homeplace that does shelter and give us roots.This is the closest we can come to our true home which is within Him,His heart and we cannot get there from here.But we will.
My home is within You.
3 comments:
Sharon,
I too have felt this way, that we are here as a pause on our journey "home" to where we are supposed to be. But it's the duality for me that this passage creates within my soul. "my home is within you" gives me the peace that maybe I am already home, in His love and Grace and if I can understand that this is all I need, then I've gotten the message.
Thank you for this passage, especially today, as I am saying a slow goodbye to a much loved member of my family who suffered a stroke 10 days ago and who is not expected to recover.
Bless you.
Ry
Dear Ry,
Your loved one is in my prayers today....so hard...but in your writings I can see how much you were loved by this person.A blessing.Thank you for going deeper into what I wrote.That's your gift to me.
Interesting. I've heard people say before that while we are here we will always feel like something is missing as this is not our home. I think you should write about that year in SC. I would love to know more about it.
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