Pastor Paul's Ponderings

March 22, 2023

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  Like an idiot, I put up a Purple Martin house near my garden. I knew that the chances of me attracting them were slim because the area is near tall woods and there is not a body of water nearby. They hate to be near tall trees and thick cover and they need a body of water, still water, in order to drink. I put up a Martin house anyway because about a mile away I saw several Martin houses in a backyard. Perhaps my house might attract a young couple looking for a new home.

  About that time I noticed that the squirrels that used to be around by the thousands were much fewer in number, and a lot more skittish than they normally were.

  Eventually, I heard the reason for my Martin house failure and the reduced number of squirrels. Red-tailed Hawks. Two of them. They had made a nest in a super tall Oak tree in the vacant lot next to my garden. I just wish that they’d eat groundhogs too! I noticed the pair three years ago and found the next last spring. I am pretty sure it has been their home for three years now.

  Their home.

  Home. When I hit a difficult stretch, stress out and tired or annoyed, I feel like: “I just want to go home!” but where is home?

  As a child my family, while being in academia lived as if we were military. We moved every three-four years, need it or not. I have not fared much better—I count five houses in the last thirty years.

But I envied my grandparents who each lived in the same houses they built when they first got married—and they were retired at the time. They remembered planting the trees that were fully grown.

  An established home.

  We all love the stability of a home, of having a home. Psychologists tell us how important it is for kids to have a stable home, and I have witnessed many older folk fight with everything they had to stay in their home, as they age and are no longer able to maintain themselves and their home.

  Home is good.

  But Jesus didn’t have one. Or at least that is what he told someone who wanted to see where he stayed. Neither did Jesus have possessions. We often take comfort in possession in this country too.

  I am pretty sure that Jesus is not saying that home, having a home that provides shelter and emotional comfort, is bad. What I think he is saying is that he found his comfort and emotional support elsewhere. I believe he found his support and comfort in his relationship with God.

  And because of Jesus, we too can as well! Yes, a home would be nice. But we do have a forever home in Jesus!

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Grace and Peace,

Pastor Paul