I'm sitting here listening to Bing Cosby sing Christmas carols and I am taken back home to East Tennessee to my childhood when I watched the old Christmas records spin on our record player as his deep voice rang throughout the house filling it with holiday cheer.
I talked to my boss back home tonight. He advised me lots of things have changed, including myself, since my tour over here. All true enough. I've learned since becoming a pastor that life is more about change than it is same. I think though that one reason we think back to home, when home was good, is we desire something to remain the same.
I feel at home in Tennessee. I can go up in the mountains and I revel in the glory of God's handiwork. I feel closer to Him there though my understanding reminds me He is always present. Maybe it is my appreciation that is closer to my consciousness. I can refresh my spirit and life by spending some time in those mountains.
But home is where my family is. We've been all over. A couple of different places in the midwest, Tennessee, and finally DC. And I suspect another change will come in time. I was pondering what makes places so special. The mountains are special to me. To my friend I've made here Times Square in NYC is home to him, a place that would be an alien landscape to me. It's the love. Home is where we are loved, where our loved ones are. Christmas music and Christmas places take us back to times that may feel simpler but were likely as complicated as our lives now. We were just younger then and more filled with faith, trust, and belief that we were loved.
Home is where you are loved. Change is good, it keeps life growing and from becoming stale. But I'm glad some things stay the same. No matter where I take my family, in the states or oversees, as long as they know they are loved - they will feel they had a home.
