We have had a family of three baby squirrels in the wall of the patio outside my bedroom window. Like all young creatures, they love to play with each other and to have small adventures. Occasionally mama squirrel makes an appearance, looking exhausted, and sprawls out on the wall where she endures more or less patiently the pestering of her offspring. When she has had enough, she departs to heights of branches where her young can’t yet follow.
The babies venture along the top of the patio walls and the wooden beams that connect the walls. They reach out toward a small tree just beyond their reach but which someday soon will be only a small leap for them. They try their courage as they move farther away from the nest — until some noise or movement startles them: a car passing or any small crack or pop from the yard. Then they dash as fast as they can back to the hole in the wall which is their nest. From the security of home they peer out at the wide world, and only when they begin to feel safe again do they risk another sortie along the wall.
It’s always good to have a safe haven. It’s good to be able to return home when something frightens us. For us, our true home is God, and although we are always journeying toward God who is our destination, it is also true that our journey is in God, so that we carry Home with us all the time. We can always turn toward the safety of home, and from there, gaze with new eyes and clearer vision on what startles us or disturbs us.
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, indeed it faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
to the living God.Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.Happy are those who live in your house,
ever singing your praise.(Psalm 84:1-4)