home is where you are

[bpayton]

Dr. Laniak writes about the theft homes of the bedouin. I, too, have often lived in tents. I actually enjoy living in a tent, or in a hammock under the stars, during my forays into the wilderness for adventures. and, I never minded the frequent tent-dwelling while in the military: it is a badge of honor that a soldier can sleep ANYWHERE. I've slept in mud and water filled tents, in snowdrifts, under trees in the pouring rain, lying flat on an airstrip in the middle of nowhere while waiting for a ride. and our family moved a lot while I was in the Army. The home ritual of military families is to spend 2 or 3 years making a house just like you want it to be, only to sell it and move on to another house in another city, state, or even country. and then do it again. and again.
Home for me has always been, in my adult life anyway, a transient thing based more on who was with you and what you had with you. in fact, "home " cold simultaneously be a house where your family slept, 10,000 miles away, as well as a small, dry hut with a cot and a few duffle bags that you came back to after a mission in the desert.
I'm used to being a temporary resident. I feel like I have a considerable understanding, then, of the idea that the earth is our temporary home, and that heaven is our forever home. I'm used to being in one place and waiting to get transported to a more permanent residence. I'm used to delayed gratification, as it were. "I'll be home next year" is a familiar phrase.
It's more of a challenge to get others to identify with that idea. People in our churches tend to get fixated on the here and now. Americans in general can get caught up in satisfying the current urge, the immediate need, and can put off hard things until tomorrow.
Now, I'm not one to eschew the World...God made it, and it's full of sights and adventures. I'm not above taking time off to smell the roses, enjoy a view, even "improve my foxhole" as we say in the Army, by making my current home a nice place with nice things and comfortable spots. But I try not to place too much importance on those things, and not to fear their loss. I've been very uncomfortable, and very scared, and very tired, ad I won't mind being that way again if God calls me to it. and I won't be sad to leave this World for Good. Because I know the the next place is so much better. and is forever.
Which helps me to remember that my job is to tell other people about the next place, and how to get there. and not afraid to help make people uncomfortable with where they are spiritually if that is what's necessary to get the good news across.
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Bill Payton