Home

I am reading Lifesigns by Henri Nouwen and I came across this piece this morning.  It especially spoke to me because of the number of people who recently lost their homes in tornatoes.
   "Probably no word better summarizes the suffering of our time than the word "homeless."  It reveals one of our deepest and most painful conditions, the condition of not having a sense of belonging, of not having a place where we can feel safe, cared for, protected and loved.
   The first and most obvious quality of a home is its intimacy.  When we say: "I do not feel at home here" we express an uneasiness that does not permit intimacy.  When we say: "I wish I were home" we express a longing for that intimate place that offers us a sense of belonging.  Even though many people suffer much from conflicts at home, even though much emotional suffering finds its roots at home, and even though "broken homes" are increasingly blamed for crimes and illnesses, the word "home" continues to carry with it a warm love and remains one of the most evocative symbols for happiness.  The Christian faith even calls us to experience life as "going home" and death as "coming home at last."  In Rembrandt's painting of the Prodigal Son, we can see a moving expression of that fiaht.  The loving embrace in which the old father holds his exhausted son affirms our depest desires for a lasting, intimate home."
  That quote says to me that 'home' is not necessarily a physical building, but can be a place, anyplace that promotes a feeling of safety, encouragement, intimacy and freedom from fear.  I always want my home to be that, wherever it is located.