Weekend Wisdom, February 11th
This World is Not our Home
Amberly Boerschinger, Director of Communications and Technology
I don’t even know how this song crossed my digital path. My eyes and fingers are everywhere in church, ministry and faith media – the algorithms abound. What I can tell you is that it spoke to me in the deepest of ways like only music and poetry can. As I reflected on what the Lord was inspiring me to share this weekend before Ash Wednesday, the line “I’m a stranger in my own skin, ‘cause there’s Eden in my bones” kept echoing…even in my dreams!!!
We’ve all been there at some point or another, asking what “home” really means. I grew up moving around every 4 years or so and the place we could most call home was my grandparents’ town in west-central Minnesota. Every corner holds a memory - the old dairy where we got fresh cheese curds, the library where my grandfather took us every week, the hydro-electric dam right outside the power company where we would watch the waterfall, the large park and playground where we would spend hours climbing and singing, and my grandparents’ dining table with slices of cheese and small diner glasses of Barq’s root beer.
Home is the place that holds memories, no? Or do our hearts hold the memories? Or our souls?
Our mind’s memory is but a shadow of our soul’s memory. Our souls know something deeper and greater. Lent is all about our souls remembering our journey and path home to Heaven – both the Heaven here on earth and the Heaven after death. Jesus the Word, scripture, whispers the ancient roads, guides us through the wandering wildernesses, and assures us of God’s promised land. Jesus the Eucharist sustains us around a table, a taste of the eternal home, as our souls are reminded where we came from and where we will return. It is only through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection that our souls might experience eternal life.
As we prepare for Lent and gather for Ash Wednesday, I encourage you to name the ache in your bones. I invite you to join us this Lent in prayer, worship, service and fasting. These practices speak life to our human bones and remind our souls that we are destined for Heaven – Heaven that can be tasted even now – the place and way where God wants to be with us always.
Not My Home by Luke Bower
I’ve moved around enough to know
There's no such thing as home
You go back where you used to live
And find that life moved on
That neighborhood still looks same
That old house seems so small
Same old streets but memories
Are all you’re standing on
Refrain
My eyes have never seen it
But I know that it exists
Something in my soul says
There’s a better place than this
I’m a stranger in my own skin
Cause there’s Eden in my bones
If home is where the heart is
Then this world is not my home
Chasing ancient whispers
That won’t let me settle down
Wandering through the wilderness
So far from my hometown
It’s just across the Jordan
Not so distant promised land
How can I be so homesick
For a place I’ve never been
Refrain
My eyes have never seen it
But I know that it exists
Something in my soul says
There’s a better place than this
I’m a stranger in my own skin
Cause there’s Eden in my bones
If home is where the heart is
Then this world is not my
There’s a front porch
With a Father waiting
There’s a family
Gathered round the table
No more goodbyes
No letting go
That’s how I’ll know
I’m finally home
Refrain
My eyes have never seen it
But I know that it exists
Something in my soul says
There’s a better place than this
I’m a stranger in my own skin
Cause there’s Eden in my bones
If home is where the heart is
Then this world is not my home
#LukeBower #NotMyHome #ManOnFire