Going Home Again

We recently had the opportunity to travel back to our home state of Wisconsin over our Easter break, to visit family and friends in two important locations; Wausau, where my husband and I grew up, and Nashotah, where my husband’s parents live, and also where we were formed for ministry at Nashotah House Theological Seminary.

And it was significant that we visited right after the great celebration of Easter- the celebration of Christ’s victory over sin and death and the dawning of the one true light that will someday illuminate all things. That light which will ultimately overcome the darkness of the current world, once and for all.

Our family emerged bedraggled from the forty days of Lent, entered into the Easter season of renewal and looking forward to new beginnings, and then, strangely, had the somewhat disorienting journey of returning “home,” or going back to where it all began.

You know what they say: You can’t go home again. But is this true?

For all of us, going back “home” will be about change. The cities, towns, houses, and neighborhoods we came from will not, no matter how much we wish it, stay the same. No place ever does.

Buildings, houses, and roads wear out. Trees and vegetation grow and fall away. New businesses come and some disappear. Neighbors will move, family members age and friends tend to scatter to the four corners of the globe.

And all the while, we are always changing also.

There is no way to return to being the same person we once were, with the same perspectives, thoughts, and feelings we once had when we were younger.

There is no way to ignore or erase the experiences that we’ve accumulated, and have shaped us along the way. We are constantly growing, in one direction or another, from who we once were.

And because of that, returning to a familiar place will always be different than it used to be.

My husband and I felt all of this as we toured the neighborhoods where we grew up. We enthusiastically pointed out significant places in our life ad nauseam to our slightly bored, yet admiringly patient, youngest son.

“This is the hospital where I was born, which is now a retirement complex,” my husband said. “This is our middle school.” Here’s where Shopko used to be.” And my favorite, at our high school, “Here’s where I seduced your mother.”

As we toured our hometown and as we noticed with some surprise which things had changed and what endured, there was a feeling of experiencing two time periods at once- back then and now. We remembered what we, and our lives, were like then, but always through the perspective of who we are now, incorporating everything that had happened to us since we left.

And all the while, however, there wasn’t a feeling of nostalgia, of wanting to go back to “back when” or “the good old days.” For both my husband and I, experiencing this return to our childhood wasn’t either a longing for things lost or a feeling of relief for all that we’ve experienced and gained.

It was by the grace of God, something else.

Let me explain.

As Christians, this new life that we have been given by God has within it a completely different idea of what “home” really is.

And that idea, that reality, is the gift of Easter.

Because Easter, as my favorite preacher pointed out, isn’t confined to a day. It’s not a celebration that occurs on one morning of the year, with bunnies and baskets.

It isn’t even just a liturgical season.

Easter is a fullness of participation in the newness of creation that Jesus Christ grants- to all who will receive it, that is- through His death on the cross for our sins. And it is an invitation to share in His resurrection to new life at the right hand of the Father.

And this new life with God is what Christians know as “Home.”

Home is not some house where you lived when you came back from the hospital at birth, or a town where you learned to ride a bike without training wheels. It isn’t where you are happiest or the place where you now keep your furniture and all your stuff.

Home isn’t, as some who would call themselves romantics like to think, where the love of your life resides… where your spouse, children, grandchildren, or pets live, here on earth.

As Christians, our home is with God, and is simply that obedience and participation in God wherever we happen to find ourselves now.

And it isn’t just a hope for the future. It isn’t a dream of heaven after death. 

God is here. And we can be with Him when we are obedient in our heart to the one true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

What does that look like for us?

It entails working to repent of our sins when they occur, and accepting God’s gift of His forgiveness of them. Also, obeying His commandments in humility and truth, and proclaiming his salvation to those we know and love, in this and every moment- not perfectly, but simply by His grace.

Home isn’t a location in our past or present, or some emotional place in our hearts, and it isn’t a place where we are headed. It is only this present moment, where we choose to live into the genuine and eternal love and salvation that Jesus died to offer to the world. It is God’s ever-present now– past, present, and future- in the light of the reality of His perfect being, and in participation with His absolute Truth.

---

So, not much, right?

Just participation in eternity and the ways of God, what is, what was, and what always will be- no biggie.

Ok, maybe yes, BIGGIE… But God is the One doing all this work in us and for us.

So, it was a true gift to be able to think about, and yes, wrestle with, all of this during our trip “back home.”

Both my husband and I struggled with this truth as we answered questions throughout the trip from friends and family. “How are you doing in New York?” they would ask.

The answer that we would have liked to give is just this: We are doing our best to participate in Easter. In God’s grace and His gift of new life and the hope of being resurrected with Christ. Believing that we are being made ever more able to participate in that time beyond time, the eternal now, where God lives and reigns.

We carry our Home in that ever-present gift of new life that is real and present in the Scriptures, in our obedience to His commandments, in faithful prayer, and in His gift of the Holy Spirit.

For me and my husband, Home is that ministry that He has called us to as children of God, as a married couple, as parents, and as priest and helpmate, learning and growing in the Lord.

So, as we have come back to Saranac Lake, NY after our adventures- as we have returned “home” as it were, all of that is somewhat difficult to explain. Many of our friends have asked, “How was your trip?” and “Are you glad to be home?”

“Yes,” we answer. “Absolutely.”