'The dearest spot on earth'

A house on a quiet street in California, a teepee in a Missouri forest, a houseboat on the Rhein, a canoe and tent along the Mississippi River, a Russian communal apartment, an island in the middle of Lake Michigan, a Midwestern farm, an English cottage, the nurses’ quarters in a Christian Science nursing facility, a dacha in Siberia, all of these, and more, have been home to me. 

I just moved into my 105th home. I love to say “yes” to any adventure, love to fix up houses, turning them into homes and then doing it all over again, always knowing that the “things” around me never are the foundation of home, but rather it’s the “ideas.” As a student of Christian Science, I practice turning things into thoughts (see Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 269 ). I try to see higher, more spiritual ideas, right here on what seems to be a material earth. It’s natural then to think of home as representing peace, comfort, security—even if home is in a tent. 

I think of each day as an opportunity to follow where God leads. God speaks to us, and guides us, in many ways. To me divine guidance is scientific, because God, omniscience, already knows all. All! In fact, I think of it as God going ahead of us to prepare the way. Our job, then, is simply to follow. When a new opportunity, a new idea, presents itself to us, and we begin to pack up and plan a move to a new home, we’re assured that if we’re willing to follow God’s command, and listen for His direction, we’ll always be at home. 

Just like a turtle who takes his home with him, we can never be separated from God. Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, wrote in a poem, “Shepherd, show me how to go” (Poems, p. 14 ). Not where to go, or why, but “how” to go. For me, that means with joy, with trust, with expectancy of good. 

If you ever, as a child, played house, you’re familiar with these words: “You be the father (or mother), and I’ll be the child.” I laugh, as an adult, to find myself saying that in my prayers. I often, in effect, say, “Ok, You’re the Father, and I’m Your child. With all purity and innocence I’ll trust You to tell me exactly what to do, what to say, whom to be with, how to be. You simply place me where You need me.” 

It seems that home is one of the purposes of each day. Why do many of us dedicate 20, or 40, years to paying off mortgages? Or plan color schemes, and place Grandma’s rocking chair in just the right place in our apartment? We do this to experience comfort, to have a peaceful spot amid trials and challenges, where we can feel secure. And to have a place in which we can invite others to share those feelings of comfort and security. In Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy put it this way: “Home is the dearest spot on earth, and it should be the centre, though not the boundary, of the affections” (p. 58 ).

It's natural to think of home as representing peace, comfort, security.

In today’s economic situation, selling a home can be stressful and a longtime project. A year ago, my husband and I began to talk about our beautiful home in the country being way too large for us. In fact, a few days later, for no apparent reason, but feeling directed by God, we held a garage sale on the weekend, and sold much of our large furniture. On the Sunday afternoon, toward the end of our garage sale, a customer asked if we were selling our house, and told us that he had five children and needed a larger house. The rest is history. We shook hands on Sunday night, signed a contract to sell our house on Monday morning, stopped by a realtor on Monday afternoon, and signed a contract on a charming, just-right, cottage for us on Tuesday morning. 

My parents set a good example for a complete sense of home by bringing all kinds of people in need to share our home. Our guest room, or living room sofa, was constantly in use by someone, anyone, who needed a temporary home. Years later, when my husband and I lived in our own home, a couple wanted to move from their home of many years and have someone to help them each day. They asked if they could move to our house, which was already full. I remember getting into bed that night, getting down on my mental knees, and saying, “Father, if You want me to take them in and care for them, You’ll have to provide yet another house.”

The next morning, I was awakened early by my neighbor doing some pounding in his yard. He was pounding a For Sale sign! Within two weeks we’d bought the house next door and moved the couple in. We took care of them for the next ten years. No, it doesn’t take a lot of money. For that particular house, I made a large down payment with money that came from an offer from a family member at just the right moment.

Mrs. Eddy described angels as “God’s thoughts passing to man; spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect; the inspiration of goodness, purity, and immortality, counteracting all evil, sensuality, and mortality” (Science and Health, p. 581 ). It seems that the more we listen for those angels, and the more we trust those angel thoughts, the more we find the goodness and purity associated with true home. 

More than once I’ve said, “This will be my last move.” My friends always respond by saying they’ll put my new address in the address book in pencil.