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Friday 25 April 2014

This world is not my Home....

For the Christian there is a strange dichotomy between the here and now and the not yet. I remember a Christian song called 'The Now and the Not Yet.' We are called to serve God in the here and now, while being aware that inside us is a yearning for 'home'. I love the old time Gospel Song which says:

'This world is not my home,
I'm just passing through,
If heaven's not my home,
Then Lord what will I do.
The angels beckon me from
Heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home
In this World anymore.'


Especially when we struggle with the pain and suffering of this world, the desire for the 'not yet' can seem overwhelming. In my readings this morning I came across the following meditation from Henri Nouwen:

Fulfilling a Mission

'When we live our lives as missions, we become aware that there is a home from where we are sent and to where we have to return. We start thinking about ourselves as people who are in a faraway country to bring a message or work on a project, but only for a certain amount of time. When the message has been delivered and the project is finished, we want to return home to give an account of our mission and to rest from our labours.

One of the most important spiritual disciplines is to develop the knowledge that the years of our lives are years "on a mission."'


When I see my life as mission (sometimes feels like 'Mission Impossible'!)then I can view the obstacles and challenges as an inevitable part of fulfilling it. There is a purpose and a meaning for everything that happens.

'Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.' (Romans 5: 1-5)

The only destiny I have to worry about fulfilling is the one that will ultimately be completed when I arrive back home with God - to become more like Jesus in my character. The hardest thing to hold on to is accepting that, in this context, every moment of suffering and pain can be used by God in pursuit of the mission of my life.