Sunday | Homesick (Hope)

Read: Luke 21:25-36

How do you describe homesickness to a child? You don’t.
They know.
Children know the feeling of being away from home. It’s fear, dipped in loneliness,
that “What if I’ve been forgotten?” sonnet,
or the “What if I can’t go back?” refrain.
Even a healthy, scrubbed-clean,
showered-with-love child
knows the longing of home.

But if I had to.
If I had to describe
that aching feeling, I would say:
“Homesickness is when longing and grief
wrap themselves around you like a blanket.
It’s the door to comfort thrown open.
It’s an eye on the horizon for what could be
and the only way out is to keep walking,
to keep dreaming,
to keep looking
for signs that will point you back home.”

And if you tell that to a child,
you just may realize
that a part of your spirit
has shoes on
and has always been walking,
always been dreaming,
always been looking
for the home that could be.

The door to comfort has been blown open.
Tell God I’m homesick.
I’m on my way.

Poem by Rev. Sarah (Are) Speed

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