REFLECTING ON ‘HOME’
‘Homes’ are many and different. For some ‘home’ is exactly the place one wants to be when life seems chaotic, unexplained and difficult. Early Easter morning the disciples came to the tomb only to find it empty. They returned to their ‘homes’ broken hearted, empty and baffled. When life’s dreams and hopes are shattered and life is like an empty tomb, ‘home’ may not be a physical building, but a community where we want to be with others whom we trust for encouragement and sharing our burdens. For some others ‘home’ is space and place – a place of safety and warmth, a place of rest and renewal, and a place of belonging.
Sadly this is not the reality for many people. Families are evicted because of their inability to pay rent. Millions of people are fleeing from the security of their homes due to war, religious and ethnic strife and similar reasons. Developers are demolishing low income homes to build luxury homes, only the the rich and affluent could afford. The result is an alarming increase of homelessness.
For us Christians home is not space and place. Home is not limited to a particular country or village, Home is God’s world where people of different races, religions, languages and cultures live in peace and harmony enjoying the abundance of God’s creation.
Question for Reflection: What does ‘home’ mean to you?
Prayer: Gracious God, enable all your people to live in safe and peaceful habitations. Amen.
– Contributed by Rev. Eardley Mendis, Pastor of 1st Lutheran Church, Chicago
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