Where is home?
/I've been thinking about home lately, and of how many feel without that place of comfort and being completely known and accepted as we are.
This Saturday is Canada's 150th birthday, and I'm still trying to figure out which of the many, many celebrations to attend. Canada feels very much my home. I can't really imagine living anywhere else. My mother immigrated from England in her 20s, so I'm second generation. I still remember being at her citizenship ceremony as a child, not quite understanding it all but knowing it was important. And yet, in the midst of celebrating this milestone, the very real plight of our First Nations brothers and sisters has some unsure of whether we really should be celebrating the land we colonized and took from them, dishonouring treaties and breaking their trust time and again, and ultimately attempting cultural genocide through the residential school system.
This past Sunday was the gay pride parade in Toronto. But for me, it has been tainted for months by the black lives matter community and others arguing to not allow uniformed police who are GLBTQ to be part of the parade. This peppered social media with at times nasty debate back and forth until it became almost unclear what the original point of the event was. I don't mean to dismiss legitimate concerns and history, but the sense seemed to be of who deserved to be there more, who was being repressed more. At an event meant to celebrate diversity and freedom of identity, this was a sour note.
Last week I wrote about our Muslim brothers and sisters and the prejudice and stereotyping they experience. It is a sad thing when we struggle to value their lives just as much as those in our own faith communities. We could also say the same of other groups we encounter daily and even within our congregations - those who are physically or mentally challenged, those who are impoverished and needy, those from different races and cultures, those who hold a different theology.
I just started reading a book about worship called Discerning the Spirits, which came out of a research grant and was written by Cornelius Plantinga Jr. and Sue A. Rozeboom. I haven't gotten far into it, but what has stood out to me is that for all our arrogance about presuming to know which worship style is superior, none of that matters. God is God. We aren't going to "win God over" due to how well we execute worship. And yet, worship and our beliefs about it can be so divisive and alienating and conflict producing.
I began this post with the question of where is home. I can't help but think of the many who have lost their homes for any number of reasons and who we should be caring about far more than we do. But I also think about the sense of belonging and identity that is so needed by all of us. Do we honour what is home to other people? Do we judge how well they keep their house? Do we provide sincere welcome and hospitality to those looking for a new home? Are we able to co-exist without getting into a contest of who deserves to be in the neighbourhood or community more?
The church is God's home, not ours, and it is His welcome we have heard and answered. We are not gatekeepers of who is deserving enough. Instead, we are meant to open the doors wide so all may come in and learn to honour the host and owner of the place. I remember working with children and trying to get them to understand why we don't race through the sanctuary. We were trying to establish safety, but we also talked about how this place is important to everyone in the family, a place where they can feel at home and able to talk to God and listen to God. All people who gather are important to God and should be to everyone else.
Home can be so elusive, and particularly for those whose church buildings may need to close or have already, the grief is very real and raw. As the theology of the church shifts, as key people die, as funds shrink and the organization as we know it pares back what previously seemed essential, we can feel as though our spiritual home is disappearing.
There is nothing easy to say about the feeling of loss of home. It's very personal and challenging to overcome. It may seem trite, but just as when we move house, we need to keep the most important things handy. What is of most value should be packed near the top of the suitcase for easy access. Perhaps the most important thing is to make sure that God doesn't exist for us just in our church building or in a few key relationships. God should be welcomed to make a home within us, so that the Spirit travels with us wherever we go.
Where is home? Wherever God calls us to be, and where we feel the Spirit's presence. No matter what upheaval or transitions you may face, may you always be able to find your home in God and to share that home with others.