What is it that makes a house a home?
Is it the time spent there?
If so – many of us in today’s world wouldn’t need homes because of the demands of
work. I often hear people share stories about being at home only long enough to eat a
quick bite of dinner and then go to sleep so that the next day they can start all over
again! Or, some people travel Monday – Friday and arrive back “at home” for the
weekend. Five days gone – 48 hours at home.
Is it the size of the house?
Is it the level of “fanciness” that the house has? These two things are not what
constitutes the definition of “home’ because looking at homes from an evolutionary
perspective, we see that “home” was about keeping warm and safe and having
somewhere to gather and to bring up a family or to gather together in relationship with
one another if someone did not have offspring.
Therefore, maybe we can conclude that part of what makes a house a home is what
goes on inside the structure?
It seems that for most of us, creating a home is not as much about the actual building,
but more about the peace we are able to feel when we inhabit it.
Homes have an “emotional connection” because we are able to have a sense of well-
being and self-expression in the private space.
Simon Moore, an environmental psychologist at London Metropolitan University says,
“Personal space allows thinking space,” he says. “It’s a good thing we don’t know what
goes on behind closed doors. It allows people to do what they want and truly to be
themselves – whether that’s vacuuming naked or playing back-to-back video games.”
The same is true about our spiritual lives.
We all have an “inside personal space” where we exist and connect with God. Richard
Rohr calls it “beginner’s mind” where we exist in absolute union with God.
But as we grow and age, we live less and less in that union and start living as observers
and we see ourselves as separate entities.
Our bodies are our ultimate homes, and they contain (for the time being) our spiritual
homes – our consciousness, our soul. In order to have a sense of peace/comfort inward
like we do our physical homes in 2018, we must purge ourselves of the
thoughts/feelings that get in the way of our being at one with God/love.
Today, let’s spend some time noticing the times that we do not feel at absolute
peace/love and then see what we can do to rid ourselves of those feelings. That would
be a great way to engage in “Fixer Upper” of our souls.
“The visible world is an active doorway to the invisible world, and the invisible world is
much larger than the visible.” –St. Francis of Assisi