I never thought I was that kind of person…
The kind of person that needed to learn how to appreciate things. I’ve always tried to be purposefully thankful for everything. Or so I thought.
But the last week has reminded me of what is truly treasured.
It started with being in my hometown, a place I have only visited for the last 16 years. Yet with each visit, the yearning to be near it increases. Last week I was able to live there for a week and go for several bicycle rides around town – something I used to do all the time when I was growing up. One of the great things about Fair Lawn is that you can get to different parts of it quickly and easily on a bike. And so I did. I rode from over by St. Anne’s to Memorial Pool, where I spent nearly every summer day growing up. And I was able to watch my own children play in the pool where we used to play as kids. I rode over to my prayer hill in Radburn (the slope in “B” park between Tot Lot and the school) where I have heard God so many times and where I asked Jenny to marry me. I rode over to my childhood friend Scott’s house and talked about books and his trip to Costa Rica. And I rode by dozens of other people’s homes and other landmarks. And I also got to have a burger on the Dutch House deck, my favorite cookie from the bakery, a couple of Entenmann’s crumb cakes, dinner at Davia, a visit to The College of New Jersey/Trenton State College, and wonderful visits with family and friends.
All the while thinking about how grateful I was for those people, places and moments and the opportunity to visit them again. And how I have missed it all – a lot.
And then there was Dave’s funeral service. Which among other things, reminded me of how as we go on in life, some of the best people we have known and loved are already at our real home – heaven. That place where all tears will be wiped away, where there is no more pain, death or suffering, no more diseases like ALS. That place that can only be reached by faith.
All of it has stirred an aching and a yearning to be home. Home is and could be again Fair Lawn, but ultimately is heaven.
As Paul wrote to the believers in Philippi, who were struggling with oppression and persecution, and needed hope, “But our citizenship is in heaven, Philippians 3:20.” He was reminding them that despite their present circumstances, their true citizenship was not under Roman control but of Christ’s eternal and forever kingdom. And that being mindful of that could help them look beyond the troubled present. Given our circumstances now of the economy and all the stress and pressures, it speaks comfort and hope to us too.
As you know, we can get so focused on this world as if it is permanent. The people, things – we have and want to have, it is very easy to get so attached to it all. And yet, it is only temporary. If you think about it, most of our misery comes from being overly attached to this world and its things – when it and they don’t belong to us.
As Carrie Underwood has poetically expressed in her song Temporary Home, “This is my temporary home, It’s not where I belong. Windows and rooms that I’m passin’ through. This is just a stop, on the way to where I’m going…because I know this is my temporary home.” How much would our perspectives and lives be different if we had a “temporary” yet faith-based outlook on our lives.
And speaking of passing through, nearly five years ago, God whispered to me at the prayer hill, “You’re going to Michigan.” I never imagined leaving New Jersey but we were faithful and went. And I think there were many times when I was so focused on the “mission” that I didn’t remember who I was and from where I come. And now with that mission nearly complete, and God having whispered a few months ago, “You’re going home,” we are quite curious as to how God will make it happen and what it means.
Because in the end, home – on earth or in heaven is about belonging. And whether it is Fair Lawn or TCNJ/TSC or old, dear family and friends or thinking of heaven, I know now very well what it is like to treasure and yearn for those places and people to whom and where we belong.
Because for better or worse, as humans, we often have to lose or be separated from those things which we love in order to truly desire and treasure them. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is essentially about exile and restoration with God on cosmic and personal levels.
It’s also a little bit like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz who talks about cherishing what she has and explains to Auntie Em, “But it was a real place (Oz) and some of it wasn’t very nice, but most of it was beautiful. All the while I kept telling people that I wanted to go home. And they sent me home.” Whether it is Oz or earth, we are just passing through.
I never thought I was one of those people that needed to learn this – but I was, and I have; and I will probably have to learn it again sometime…
Amen.
Living Water 