’Homeward Bound’ is a rallying cry that has gladdened the hearts of travellers through the ages. A call that holds promise of returning to a treasured familiarity. An orientation towards home is a deeply human drive.

Home can mean many different things and the word itself is used in many contexts. As a young, single man in my 20s I travelled a lot and made my home wherever I was. Needs were simple. Food, clothing, shelter and good company often sufficed. Yet perspectives of home can change and some things are more relevant depending on where we find ourselves in life.

There is the sense of physical protection and comfort as a shelter from the elements. Be it the wind and the rain, snow, cold or heat. There is also the psychological benefit of being shielded from the stresses, strains and maybe danger of the world outside. Of feeling safe. We also live in a world where millions are refugees. For whatever reason homes and livelihoods are destroyed and families are separated or forced apart. Images of those suffering such trauma often fill our news media.

There is the notion that home is having things around you that you are familiar with. For the homeless as well as refugee it may not be much. Perhaps just a plastic bag or rucksack of belongings. For some of us it can be a houseful of things. To speak of belongings is a pertinent word to use. Having things that belong to us seem to mirror the deeper, human need for us to belong. 

Perhaps most commonly we associate home with a sense of place. Being somewhere that is both familiar and inviting. For some it is rooted in land and environment rather than buildings. I am amazed at how so many ’first nation’ people tie their identity to the physical landscape. They feel rooted to place in ways that most of us city dwellers do not understand. My experience last year in the Swedish Arctic helped me to appreciate a little of the Sami people’s desire to preserve their culture and heritage. Closer to ’home’ (pun intended) my parents and grandparents’ Scottish highland heritage speak also of this same love for the mountains, lochs (lakes) and sea. 

We can also quickly ’feel at home’ in situations that we have never been in before. From my own experience this is usually when I am amongst people of kindred spirit. In particular this has been with those who share my Christian faith. It might be worshipping in a church or group never visited before. Maybe also in a culture and language that is foreign yet there is a sense of fellowship, of belonging, of unity in the midst of diversity. 

Probably one of the most enduring ingredient in being at home is in the presence of those we love. Living with people who accept you for who you are and allow you to be yourself. Yet this is not the reality for many. In the UK about 30 percent of households are single person homes. Some live like this out of choice and happy to do so. Others through circumstances beyond their control. Yet others, ironically, escaping abusive family relationships. Sadly, many experience loneliness despite busy lives snd careers.

We also live in a world where millions are refugees or homeless. For whatever reason homes and livelihoods are destroyed and families are separated or forced apart. Images of those suffering in such a way we often see in the news.

Home, they say, is where the heart is. A sense of being somewhere that has nothing to do with a physical location but rather a sense of being. Of being content, at peace, at rest. An enduring sense of ’being at home’ has a spiritual dimension. It is also a destination that we have not yet reached. An orientation, a direction in life that we are moving or being drawn towards. All other representations of home can change, fade away or disappear. However there remains a longing  for a deeper, more permanent dwelling place. To accept the call to be a pilgrim is to affirm that nothing in this life will be permanent. 

“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

St. Augustine, Confessions

*** By Elisabeth Grant ( https://elisabethgrantart.com )

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