The Green, Green Grass of Home

“Home is a name, a word, it is a strong one; stronger than magician ever spoke, or spirit ever answered to, in the strongest conjuration.”
~Charles Dickens

One simple word can cause a deluge of memories, thoughts, and emotions to come flooding back to us. It is a word that, for most, has a host of feelings connected to it, one we can all relate to. What is that one simple word? Homesick. Being homesick can be far more than being separated from home or a place. It is a feeling connected with family and all that is familiar to us. When one is homesick, it often means they are in very unfamiliar territory, one they are not comfortable with. They long to be in the place they identify most with. We have all experienced it at one time or another.

When we are children, we are excited about having a sleepover with a friend or visiting relatives in the summer. The experience is thrilling for us until reality sets in that we are not home. Mom and Dad are not close by. At nighttime, there is no one familiar to run to if we get scared and have to be comforted.

We look forward to going away to college somewhere other than where we live. Finally, we are on our own, answering to ourselves, grown-up. It does not take long for us to miss the comforts of home we took for granted before. Eating Mom’s home-cooked food around a table with family is considered a luxury, a real blessing. Merely being in someone’s home is a blessing.

When we get married and have families of our own, we can still experience homesickness, the longing to be around family, and all that is familiar. Though we have created a new home with new memories for our own families, we often long for the place where all was right in our world, and our problems did not seem as huge in our minds. Frequently, it was a place we had never really lived ourselves, a place that held the essence of those we love.

I recently went back to the home place of my parents to put new flowers on their graves. All my relatives lived in this small rural town. I had never lived there, but coming back brought me back to a place and time of long ago. Memories of childhood flooded my mind of time spent in the summers with various relatives. My sister and I came most summers for two weeks, spending time with aunts and uncles and our grandmother. I remember the excitement of getting ready to go. I also remember the longing toward the end of the second week to see our parents and go home, to go back to what had been – the place I called home.

At some point, the hourglass of time is flipped. As we grow into our twilight years, our loved ones begin to pass on to their final home. They cease to be in those familiar places we once knew and cherished. Even the material things that make up home and hearth begin to lose their pull on us. At this stage, our desire is to give things away – downsize. The place we live no longer even matters to us. Our focus is no longer what lies behind us or even what makes up our present but rather what lies ahead. We are homesick for that place we have never been to but look forward to going.

The elderly sometimes lose their will to live after watching grandparents, parents, friends, siblings, and even their own children leave this world. The elderly person may feel their “home” is no longer in this world. All they know and love has gone on before them, and they become homesick to be with them once again. The older one gets, the more everything related to home is now in Heaven.

The Bible says we are strangers, pilgrims, aliens, and sojourners on earth, and we do not belong to the world. Our citizenship is in Heaven. There will come a time when Heaven will be our home, and we should forget the things in this earthly life. There is an old gospel song entitled I’ve Never Been This Homesick Before written by Dottie Rambo. Some of the lyrics are:

“Let’s see the bright light shine, it’s just about home time
And I can see my Father standing at the door
This world’s been a wilderness, I’m ready for deliverance
Oh Lord, I’ve never been this homesick before.
I can see the family gather, sweet faces stand so familiar
No one’s old or feeble anymore, and though this lonesome heart is crying
I think I’ll spread my wings for flying
Lord, I’ve never been this homesick before.”

One day all of us will leave this world. I’ve heard no one gets out alive. Though we desire to have heavenly bodies and be present with Christ, we should strive to please Him while here on this earth. We have been called for a purpose. As I always reminded my mother, as long as you have breath in your body, you have a mission to fulfill. But be at peace knowing that one day you will see the green, green grass of home.

We are children of God, heirs with Christ. Therefore, the sufferings of this present earth are not worthy to be compared with the future glory (in our real home). Romans 8:15-26

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