Homecoming!

Last day of classes.

Tomorrow morning I will leave The Mountain and head home. And I cannot wait to get home! Two more classes today a VERY short stay in a hotel in Monteagle and 5 am airport shuttle and these three wonderful weeks will come to a close.

Of course, I will have some homework to do. And then there is the doctoral project that I have to wrap my head and heart around which will need to begin to take shape over the next 11 months before next summer's classes. But that can wait until the bags are unpacked and the family reunion happens. I am going home.

The old adage tells us that "Home is where the heart is." That is true. But it is not complete. Home is also that place where our calling is made visible. Home is the place where our life's meaning and vocation is manifested and brought to flower.

Home is where our vocation is.

God calls us each by name. In baptism we are "marked as Christ's own forever" and we are named "Beloved." We are beloved in Christ. We are a part of God's life. We are deeply, deeply loved and God desires nothing less than us. US. You. Me. US.

Our true home is in the presence of God in Christ. And in between our birth and the time of our homecoming, we are given glimpses of home. These are the places which bring deep joy and meaning into our hearts. These are the places in we have those "mountain-top" experiences that shape our lives in new and exciting ways. And while it is a temptation to stay and re-experience those "mountain-top" moments again and again, we would do well to remember that Jesus said "No" to tents and went down the mountain to the "real world."

I wonder if Jesus models this in order to remind us that through our vocations we are to offer glimpses of the True Home of all of God's children. When we respond to the call of God in our lives and exercise the gifts of the Spirit given to us to equip that response, we offer others a glimpse of home.

So, I have had a great Mountain-top experience during my time at Sewanee. And, I look forward to the future times of learning, fellowship, worship and joy. But, it is time to go home. I am being called to go home and offer the glimpses of the Homeland and the Homecoming to which God invites us all.

Time for class. The last class. And, then home. Home to family. Home to friends. Home to answer God's call. Home where heart and soul and vocation meet God's desire for the world.

Comments

[Katharine]

Thanks for your thoughts on home and True Home, Ram. Really resonates with me. I am reminded of a C.S. Lewis quote I have held near and dear for a long time, "Our Father refreshes with some pleasant inns along the journey, but He will not encourage us to mistake them for Home." Glad you are back and filled with new learning and new life! Welcome home!