Welcome Home

For most of my life prior to joining the military, I was the outsider, the person who had moved into a community and was trying to fit into my new home. Whether moving for university or seminary or to my first pastoral call, I was so used to being the outsider that it almost became a badge of honour for me.

When I joined the military, though, I quickly found that I was in the midst of people just like me. Most of our military members are posted far away from their hometowns. Summer becomes a time of travel and pilgrimage as we travel to visit family, renew connections and cement relationships with family both immediate and extended. For us, that homecoming is well looked forward to, filling our hearts and home with laughter.

This is how I imagine the promise of “home” throughout scripture: there will always be a place, a high mountain on which God’s kingdom takes root and grows among us.

This summer, as our homes are open, may our hearts be as well, to welcome the foreigners in our midst who yearn for home, as well.

God of travelling light, as your Son sought open hearts and homes through his earthly ministry, may he find a home in our hearts and homes. Amen. — MHM