July 25, 2013 (Thursday)
What is a “home?”
Robert Frost is quoted as saying, “Home is where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.”
An anonymous saying: “”Home is where you hang your hat.”
A description familiar to us: “Home is where the heart is.”
We use the word in many ways, such as “My home is Texas,” or, “My home is Rockport.” More specifically, “My home is at 9999 Straight Street.” When we say that, we really mean, “house,” but we have grown accustomed to using “house” and “home” interchangeably.
But “home” in its best sense is not a “house.” The very word speaks of security and safety and the place where we belong. It’s what the Prodigal Son of Luke 15 thought about constantly when he was no longer there. Lonely and feeling forsaken, he said, “I’m going home,” and to his home he came. There was a place there for him, for it was “home.”
I do love that old hymn with the chorus that goes, “Come home. Come home. Ye that are weary, come home. Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling, “Oh, sinner, come home!”
“Home:” what a wonderful word. “There’s no place like home.”