I'll be home for Christmas

G. K. Chesterton, the noted British poet and theologian, was a brilliant man who could think deep thoughts and express them well. However, he was also extremely absent-minded and over the years he became rather notorious for getting lost. He would just absolutely forget where he was supposed to be and what he was supposed to be doing. On one such occasion, he sent a telegram to his wife which carried these words: "Honey, seems I'm lost again. Presently, I am at Market Harborough. Where ought I to be?" As only a spouse could say it, she telegraphed back a one-word reply "HOME!"

There is something special about that word … Home. It is a place of safety, warmth and comfort. The smells are familiar to us. The people there know us with all of our faults and they still love us. As the old saying goes, “home is where the heart is.” And as the Christmas song states, “I’ll be home for Christmas if only in my heart.”

So one of my counted blessings this Christmas season is my home. It has taken me longer this time to become comfortable in our house … I’m not quite there, but I’m working on it. It really helps to have the familiar Christmas decorations surrounding me. It is also a blessing to know that our daughters have a home in which they are comfortable and are discovering happiness in life.

Sometimes we can get lost … even in our own home. We simply forget how to live. Oh, our bodies are at rest, the surroundings are familiar, and our stuff is scattered about, but our heart simply gets lost in the process. We go through the motions, moving from one day to the next. There seems to be a disconnect between our mind and our heart, our spirit. Nothing, or very little, makes any real sense.

It is at these times that I have found it necessary to check my spiritual compass. Nearly every time my directional needle is pointing in the wrong direction. It doesn’t take much to get us off course and only a fraction of a degree in one direction or another can bring about disastrous results.

We all know what we are supposed to do to remain on course – prayer, Bible reading, meditation, etc. At best I run hot and cold in these spiritual disciplines and it usually takes the sense of that disconnect between mind and heart to bring me back. The message of Christmas that his name is Emmanuel, God with us is extremely helpful. If God is with me then I am not lost and wherever we are together is home!

Quote for today: A house is made of walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams. ~source unknown