Where is your true home?

It has been over a hundred days since the start of the coronavirus lockdown in England. I have been thinking about what to share as a blog and found that two guest writers were willing to share their own different reflections on lockdown. Jennifer from America and Anne from the UK and I assume no responsibility for their personal comments.

  In our home from the first day of lockdown to the 4th of July I have lit a candle in our front spare bedroom window as a sign of hope and prayer for all our local community to see and experience.

Rudyard Kipling a famous writer who not long after getting married to his wife Carrie, built themselves a home in the country. It was a year before they met the lady who lived on the hillside opposite to them. ‘Are you the new lights across the valley’ she asked? ‘Yes’ was the reply. ‘You don’t know what a comfort those lights have been to me during this winter time.’

Upon hearing the words of their neighbour, as long as the Kipling’s remained at that home they kept the curtains open for the light to shine and be a comfort to her. We never know to whom the light of our thoughtful actions reaches. They shine brightly having their own particular impact upon those around us.

Below is the article sent from Anne Harris my guest writer who having read my book Blog 51 has completed her own Blog 52. Anne lives on the South Coast of England and is a qualified coach. She has a background in nursing, health service research and quality improvement.

On a train to Waterloo on a chilly afternoon in early March 2020. March already! A new year marching, what is happening? I seem to have been in some kind of time warp, busy downsizing, moving on, shedding clutter, providing bounty to local charity shops and other good causes.

Then selling and finding a new home to look forward to. A little virtual church ‘shopping’ with the help of my friend Google and I pinpoint the potential ‘lighthouses’. So, with a new physical and spiritual home by the sea in a beautiful area, what could possibly go wrong?

My work in London comes to a sudden halt. A new virus marches in and calls the tune, no, not just the old seasonal ‘flu’, but the coronavirus causing a new Covid 19 infection.

It is now the 12^th April, Easter Day, the coronavirus has claimed 10,612 lives in the UK to date. After daily briefings, the Prime Minister succumbs to Covid 19 and after a week in St Thomas’ Hospital with three days spent in Intensive Care, he retreats to Chequers to rehabilitate.

The briefings continue however, along with a new mantra which is on everyone’s lips twenty-four hours a day. We are ‘told’ to ‘Stay at Home’ by the regular news bulletins, broadcasts, podcasts, and parliamentary briefings. Online, offline in print the same three words, ‘Stay at Home’.

On this Easter day that instruction has greater resonance, for where is home? Having just moved to a new house all is not yet familiar, not yet settled and without putting down roots where exactly do we belong? Our new home is near the sea and the sand and we know that shifts.

No, this year in particular as we celebrate a quite different Eastertide without all the (unnecessary) trimmings the message of the death and glorious resurrection of our dear Lord Jesus Christ and saviour is of even greater comfort and significance. For where else is our home? We are promised an eternal home when we place our trust in Jesus and decide to follow him and depend on him.

Moreover, he tells us, ‘my fathers’ house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you’? (John 14:2).

If ever there was a time to stay at home, surely this is it. Staying close to Jesus we can be confident that he holds us in his hands, with great compassion he cares for us individually, he knows our needs before we even ask. Being sovereign and above all things we can take comfort that by ‘Staying at Home’ with our saviour it is not only safe and secure but can also give us peace and reassurance in this storm.

Thanks Anne for reminding us of the importance of our earthly and heavenly homes. I would like to introduce you to my second guest writer Jennifer Scott 

Jennifer writes about the ups and downs of her life on SpiritFinder.org. which is a source of information for people with mental illness and a forum where those living with anxiety and depression can come together to discuss their experiences. Based in Philadelphia, she enjoys traveling, working with animals, and seeking out new friendships and adventures.”

May your light shine brightly even in the daily darkness that emerges, so as to be a strength and encouragement to neighbours, friends and family.

Graham

For further reading hit the links below for the second edition of my book Blog 51 (October 2020) in black and white or colour