Where the Adventure Begins

Image by dgthekneelo. Creative Commons

This post is part of the December synchroblog and part of  Christine Sine’s annual Advent synchroblog focused on the idea of “Coming Home” and how it relates to this season of advent leading up to Christmas. Links to the other writers’ contributions are listed at the end of this post.

I think it’s funny how most of us love travel, adventure, and new experiences; yet we are always glad to get back home.

Home is the place at the heart of our most meaningful relationships, where our life is put into context and finds meaning. It’s where we are comfortable.

We don’t have to pretend at home. There, we can be totally relaxed. We are not trying to impress anyone or live up to expectations. We are free to be ourselves and do what we do.

Here’s a strange question. What if our nexus with the spiritual is simply being ourselves?  What if that is when we are most at home?

It’s an odd thought because we have been told over and over again about how sinful we are, how we need to change our life, how we need to deny ourselves, and how we need to be better and try harder.

As is often the case with a lie, there is some truth in the above expressions, but if they are isolated from other truths, they are deceptive.

For, we are also created in the image and likeness of God and are the very pinnacle of his creation. We are gifted for contributing to his kingdom here and now. We are loved infinitely, permanently, and relentlessly and our capacity for creativity and good knows no bounds.

Unfortunately, the first set of characteristics seems to be reinforced to the exclusion of the traits in the second list. We tend to find it easier to believe the negative stuff about ourselves.

In addition, most of have a really hard time getting in touch with who we really are. The demand of obligations and expectations, coupled with the feeling that it is self-indulgent to discover our true heart and follow it, keep us from self-discovery.

But when could we possibly be more alive and more a part of Christ’s Kingdom, than when we are engaged in being who he created us to be and are partnering with him in his work?

That is coming home!

There is a bit of a mystical element to coming home, but it also has its really earthy, gritty, and just plain difficult aspects. Discovering who we are and living it out is probably our greatest task in life and it’s not easy. We will encounter a lot of resistance on the journey and it will take a lot of time, a lifetime. At times we will be misunderstood and the journey will seem counter-intuitive.

There probably won’t be a whole lot of moments of cosmic reassurance from the Holy Spirit, rather something more like a quiet, but stubborn reassurance from the depths of our soul. Usually, as we hear that voice, we tend to vacillate between denial and wonder. But once we really listen, it becomes a guiding obsession.

This season of Advent reminds us that Jesus wasn’t well-received by the majority of the people. The more he revealed his identity, the more people rejected him, though, there were some people who didn’t feel loved or accepted by anyone else who really loved him

So, it wasn’t all rejection. Angels and shepherds rejoiced. Wise men brought him gifts. Later, blind men were made to see. Greedy people wanted to give away their money. Untouchables were touched and healed. Angry men became disciples of love.  Weak men became leaders who gave their lives for him. The excluded were included, and even prioritized.

This was Jesus being at home, being who he really was and is.

I won’t lie. It’s hard to come home to who we really are in God’s eyes, but it is worth it.

Advent is all about expectation and adventure, and home is where the adventure begins.

Links to the other posts in the synchroblog:

• Christine Sine – Is There Room for Jesus to Find a Home In Your Heart?
• Jeremy Myers – It Sounds Like Christmas
• Nathan Kitchen – Coming Home
• Michelle at Moments with Michelle – Home 
• Mallory Pickering – I’m Kind of Homesick 
• Bobi Ann Allen – Coming Home 
• J.A. Carter – Going Home 
• Marta Layton – Can You Ever Come Home Again? 
• Peggy at Abisomeone – Abi Has Finally Come Home For Christmas 
• Amy Hetland – Coming Home 
• Coffeesnob – Home 
• Carol Kuniholm – Advent Three: Redefining Home 
• Liz Dyer – Advent 2013 The Way Home 
• Harriet Long – The Body and the Sacred: Coming Home 
• Edwin Pastor Fedex Aldrich – Who I Was Made to Be 
• Emkay Anderson – Homemaking
• Anita Coleman – At Home in the Kingdom of God
• Kathy Escobar – Mobile Homes (Not That Kind) 
• Jennifer Clark Tinker – My Itinerant Home 
• Doreen Mannion – Heart is Where the Home is