“Home is where the heart is.” – Piny the Elder
Last weekend, we took one of our grandsons to see the remake of Disney’s classic cartoon, Pete’s
Dragon. [Spoiler Alert] The story tells of an orphan lost in the forest who is discovered and cared for by a friendly dragon. Elliot the dragon protects, rears and defends Pete. He considers Elliot and his forest HOME and doesn’t want to leave. Pete is found by the people of a nearby city and finds a new home with a loving family whom he has to learn can also provide him a safe and warm place to land. Home is not a just place, but a feeling.
HOME – is the place where one lives permanently, especially as a family or household. Figuratively, it is a place where something flourishes, is most typically found, or originates. The place where you flourish: grow or develop in a healthy, vigorous and successful way, especially in a favorable environment. Wow, what a litmus test! Our hearts ache for ‘home’ – a place of true acceptance. We say we’re “going home” when we visit the place where we grew up even when we’ve lived in our current location longer. Our birthplace may or may not have caused us to advance in particular areas. Like Pete, we might require a new ‘home’ to heal or grow. In this life, circumstances and situations are developing us into mature Christians through the trial our faith (1 Peter 1:7). Paul reminds us in Hebrews 13:14, “For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.” Man, aren’t we!
As an orphan like Pete, the word ‘home’ has a more transcendent meaning than just a place
where I can typically be found. Gladly, though my mother and father have forsaken me, the Lord has taken me up. He has been a Father to this fatherless child and set me in a nuclear family; (Psalm 27:10; 68:7-8) but even they don’t at times feel like ‘home.’ HOME is a sacred word. It reveals a deep relational connection that is beyond geography, history or even blood. If we decline, wither or experience physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual abuse or trauma in a place…that’s NOT home. If there’s not an atmosphere of warmth, love or welcoming, but rather rejection. If we’re tolerated but not celebrated…that’s NOT home. We may call it home…but it might just be a shell where love used to be…or maybe never was. When we find home, it’s a place we never want to leave and we enjoy returning there. Some find their ‘home’ with friends, co-workers, or even at church. Do YOU have a home? I do!
