How do you feel about where you live – your home and surroundings? Knowing that millions of refugees worldwide need a safe place to live gives added importance to how we think about home. It’s natural to desire a home for ourselves and others that is secure and comforting.
Psalm 23 in the Bible gives this safe dwelling place a simple name: “the house of the Lord” (verse 6). The house of the Lord doesn’t have four walls and a roof. And it’s not a spot on earth.
Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science and founded this news organization, shows how practical the phrase “the house of the Lord” is when it’s interpreted spiritually. Her book “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” elucidates the full verse this way: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house [the consciousness] of [LOVE] for ever” (p. 578).
This spiritual home or consciousness of God, divine Love, is a holy way of thinking and acting. We find this home within us, and help others find it too, through prayer. Prayer brings to light home as a God-given dwelling place that is present wherever we go. Being conscious of Love gives us the assurance that we can’t be separated from the tender watchfulness that divine Love has over its creation – which includes everyone.
Many things about finding a secure home appear unpredictable – such as funds, employment, or circumstances in one’s country. We can take heart from the life of Christ Jesus. He said to someone who promised to follow him wherever he went, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (Luke 9:58).
If Jesus had no settled physical dwelling in which to live, what kind of home did he have? He lived with his Love-filled consciousness, consistent with his divine nature as Christ, God’s anointed. His awareness of divine Love’s all-presence led the Savior to whatever lodging he needed to accomplish his mission of helping and healing people.
In line with Jesus’ example, Christian Science teaches that our true nature is far from being a mortal inhabiting matter. Living in “the consciousness of Love” leads us to recognize ourselves and others as spiritual. As an individual spiritual idea belonging to God, divine Mind, we can’t be separated from home any more than we can be separated from the omnipresence of Mind, our creator.
Expressing qualities consistent with our real identity helps us see that in truth we are squarely and forever in the house of the Lord. “Goodness and mercy” are named in the 23rd Psalm as part of that mental home, but we could add hope and faith, flexibility and patience, friendliness and generosity. And what place couldn’t use more love?
A Ukrainian refugee and friend of ours left Kyiv several years ago to find a safe home for his young family. During this unsettling time, we encouraged him to trust God. After moving from country to country, our friend asked if we knew anyone in the small European nation where he had a job offer.
We knew only one person in that country, but it turned out to be just the right one. This person had recent experience in filling out the many documents needed by refugees, along with knowing which government agencies to contact. The family successfully traveled across the continent to their new city and started settling in.
The unfolding of events may seem coincidental, but it is more than that. Prayer that affirms that we each live in Love’s presence opens our thought to the goodness of God that can be known and felt in all kinds of details of life: love among neighbors, laws that protect the home and environment, welcoming havens for people without shelter.
We can trust that we each have a secure home in the consciousness of Love that is ever available, and actively bear witness to this spiritual reality. The more spiritual our view of home is, the more improved living conditions we’ll see.
