Article July 5, 1982 Issue

Home—"Love's stronghold"

EDITH W. HENDERSON

"Help us to know... that all Thy children dwell/Within Love's stronghold unafraid," Christian Science Hymnal, No. 203. a hymn implores. Could Love's stronghold be the unquenchable spiritual consciousness of God's protection and shelter, security and provision? In truth, man's eternal selfhood does rest surrounded by sheltering Love, which blesses and enriches us.

The word "stronghold" usually refers to a fortress of some type, but couldn't one say it also means, in this spiritual context, having a strong hold on what safety, comfort, and beauty really are? Our security may, from time to time, seem besieged, but if security's spiritual nature is deeply understood, we are able to reconstruct a sense of home based on Love's spiritual stronghold. This higher understanding of home withstands the onslaughts of evil, for Love's stronghold has the built-in strength of Spirit that resists all marauding thoughts. And its abundance of good can never be diminished, since Love continually sustains it with an outpouring of right thoughts, understanding, plus an inexhaustible supply of guidance and fulfillment.

Home in its highest sense is a stronghold, indeed. It is power for development and refreshment. Mrs. Eddy is quoted in one of her biographies as having said, "Home is not a place, it is a power." Robert Peel, Mary Baker Eddy: The Years of Authority (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1977), p. 349 .

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