Home Base: Peace, Comfort, Serenity

I wish I had a dollar for every time I have been asked the following question: Do you mean that you drive back and forth from Columbia to Charleston? Simple answer: Yes. More complex answer, I love HOME. Home is where the heart is. So trite yet so true. I love going home. It's home base. It's where my people live and where my loved ones need me and I need them.

I am writing about HOME. It's a physical space and a spiritual space. Home in the Midlands has been such a blessing these past 22 years . Hard to believe I moved, with my family, to Columbia in 1999. There is Lake Murray, there is open space. There is deep tradition and community. There is less transitional movement of residents than some places I have lived. There are interstates; lots of them: I-26 and I-20 and I-77 and I-95 not far away.. Access to the mountains and the beach is 2 hours each way. It's the hub of the Palmetto State.

So, going home after work has been my want and my desire. It gets me away. It takes me to a place of comfort and grace. It almost feels like church. You know, that feeling of peace, fellowship, stillness that is priceless. That sense of contentment that can't be bought.

The sunny and warm to hot weather doesn't hurt either. I believe the number of sunny days each calendar year is calculated on the high side. It's seasonal: beautiful falls and springs, short moderate winters, and hot summers; famously hot as the slogan goes. Most importantly home is that destination where I can slow down, dial back life's RPMs, and catch my breath. Home is a place but it is also a state of mind. May you and I have that special place called home, even amidst the challenges of work, parenting, grandparenting, raking leaves and cutting grass, and doing chores around the house. Home is where God dwells. May God's goodness fill your home with all that you need. So, going home is a good thing. Home. It's right here. Amen.

The Long Way Home

Supertramp’s 1979 album titled, “Breakfast in America” was a smashing success. I saw them in concert. One of the singles from the album is titled, “Long Way Home.” Both the album and this song are beyond good. Give them a listen if you are not familiar with them. I promise you won’t be let down.

Today is my 40th high school reunion, being held in Wayne, PA, not far from King of Prussia where Upper Merion HS is located. Forty years. Hard to believe. I won’t be there but you can bet that my fellow students are on my mind.

Two days ago, I took the long way home to Columbia from Charleston. I took the back roads. They were less congested on Thanksgiving Eve. Plus, the farmland filled with post-harvested cotton, pecans, and peanuts are brilliantly colorful and grand. I am never disappointed.

On my way home and since, I pondered the term, “long way home.” Isn’t that a good summary of life? For me, finding my faith in God has been the most profound journey. I found my way to the LORD and have never turned back. Even so, life has a way of making days and weeks and months of what should be shorter and briefer experiences. Instead, through the “will of God,” “human free will,” and good and bad choices it is not hard to get off the right path. Sometimes it takes awhile to find a better, more level, easier path. The backroads can be bumpy and more dangerous, especially the two-lane ones where trucks are traveling with cut lumber carefully tied to the flatbed.

So, slowing down to ponder the “long way home” may be worth one’s time and my time. I think so. I think of what if’s, what could be, what should have been, what might be, etc. The list could go on and on. Yet, life is a journey. It is the long way home.

The long way can be filled with great joy and devastating heartbreak. The long way home may be the arduous journey of finishing high school, a graduate degree, or waiting on a much-needed trip overseas. The long way home can be the death of a dearly loved one, job loss, home loss, or even death of a beloved pet. The long way home may be long, but I know firsthand, that the road is never monochrome. For me the colors of life are bright, full of life, even in the darkest of days. For the human being, you and me, is so full of creativity, goodness, love, and mercy. Humans help humans on the long road home. We offer a meal, a friendly email, a long-needed phone call, or even a word of apology.

So, Supertramp says, “take the long way home.” For me, I would not want it any other way.

"COVID-19, Grief, and Golden Leaves"

Reds, Yellows, Golden leaves fall from tree limbs, ever so delicately, moved by the light wind in a South Carolina fall morning.

Grief. Loss. Yes, so real.

COVID has happened and continues.

People have died.

Lives have changed. Churches have changed. Work has changed.

Leaves shined upon by the bright morning eastern sun.

Light from God, even in the darkest of times. Times of loss, change, major interruptions. Plans diverted.

Family and children are in spin cycle. Masks. Vaccines. Who says so?

Light bursts through the garnet and orange leaves. Light breaks forth. The grass knows that growth will halt for a time and a season. Halt.

Lives stopped. Plane flights cancelled. Loved ones critically ill.

Golden. Yes, Golden. Color as bright as ever possible. Bright.

Hope. Hope is there. In my soul. In your soul. Even as loss is all around.

Hope is Golden. May it shine ever so brightly and golden today for you and me.