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Source: Clearly Caring Magazine, 2nd Quarter 2010, Vol. 30, No. 2
Have you ever just wanted to go home? When the concert went on too long or the movie completely bored you, didn’t you just want to head straight home?
That thought, “I just want to go home,” has crossed my mind over the years. And although the word “home” is primarily used to define a physical structure or location, the word certainly conveys an emotional sentiment as well. “Oh, let’s just stay home tonight,” my husband has been known to say after an exhausting week of running here and there. “If you two don’t stop fighting this instant, I’m going to turn this car around and take you home!” Sound familiar to you parents who have been pushed to the edge of endurance for the thousandth time? What parent hasn’t heard his sick child whimper in the early morning hours, “Can I stay home from school today?” “Home” is safety, security, love and yes, even discipline. It’s not just a place but a state of being – a reaching for something beyond ourselves, where peace and acceptance await us at journey’s end. Perhaps that’s why heaven is often referred to as “home.” In my profession as a psychologist, I’ve worked with many seriously-ill patients. I’ve often heard these clients compare death with home (“I just want to go home now” – as if it’s been a long, tiring day at work, and now it’s time to rest). My response is often, “It’s not time to go home yet. There’s still work to be done.”Many times the thought of “going home” may seem to be the answer to whatever is bothering us. It’s simple and safe just to go to a place of security – but much harder to stay, fight, and endure. It’s difficult to put our trust in Him who knows what’s best and still harder to relinquish control and let God’s will unfold. Does the Bible teach us to choose our end... or does it repeatedly stress to put ourselves in His hands? Are we called to be instruments of His will... or our own? When thinking about “home” and what it means, remember that it’s not an escape but a reward... not an ending but a beginning. Like going home after a long day, home is a place to rest and rejuvenate. It’s a continuation rather than a final step in life’s journey. Is it time to go home? Only God can say.
Lynn Klammer is a licensed clinical psychologist, educator and author. She is a member of St. John’s Ev. Lutheran Church in Frankenmuth, Michigan.
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