Article January 11, 1988 Issue

There's always room for you

The Christian Science Monitor

Do you ever feel that everybody else seems to be nicely settled but there's no room anywhere for you? The reasons for homelessness may range widely, but at the heart of the challenge in each case is a feeling of being shut out from good.

Christ Jesus' analogy of the shepherd and the sheep gives a picture of God's loving care for all of His creation. One of the important things a shepherd does for his sheep is to provide a fold for them. It's quite unthinkable that even one lamb should be shut out from the fold for a single night. And this is still a very reassuring thought in overcoming homelessness.

The Psalmist said: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. ... Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."^{Ps. 23:1, 6.} The house of the Lord isn't a place or a building. It's a state of consciousness, a serene certainty of the ever-presence of God, divine Love. And we should be able to dwell in it, not just visit from time to time!