Finding a perfect home

When you’re looking for a new home, what’s the best place to start? An internet search? A real estate agent? What’s been most helpful to me in finding the right home is to understand that home is a spiritual idea that is with me wherever I go. 

Christian Science teaches that home is really the consciousness of the kingdom of God within us. The qualities we associate with home, such as peace, shelter, security, and love, are actually spiritual qualities that have their source in God, divine Mind. And since God is everywhere and expresses these qualities in each of us as His spiritual likeness, we have the capacity to feel the comfort of home wherever we are. 

One of Mary Baker Eddy’s students recalls her saying to members of her household, “Home is not a place but a power” (Irving C. Tomlinson, Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy, Amplified Edition, p. 211). 

A loved hymn with words by Rosemary Cobham says: 

The Bible states, “God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). In God’s eyes, His creation is always spiritual, whole, complete, and cared for. This means that all the qualities of God we include are present here and now. As we understand and affirm this truth, we’ll see these good qualities expressed in our experience.

Some time ago, when my husband and I were looking for a new home, I felt pretty discouraged by the options in our price range. None had the specific features I was looking for. Though we did eventually make an offer on a place, the deal fell through. 

Home is really the consciousness of the kingdom of God within us.

At that point it seemed right to put our search on hold. In the meantime, I prayed to appreciate and be more grateful for the qualities of home where we were already living. This brought a fresh sense of fulfillment, satisfaction, and purpose.

Eventually, it was time to move from that place. But as we began our new home search, my approach was completely different. This time I didn’t focus on the mental checklist of features I had previously insisted were necessary. Instead, I made a list of spiritual qualities that were important to me in a home, such as light, beauty, comfort, and harmony. I prayed to see that since these are actually attributes of God, they are expressed everywhere in God’s kingdom, so they would be present in each of the potential properties.

This new outlook completely changed the experience for me. Where before I had seen only lack and limitation, I now saw an abundance of options and possibilities in the four homes we visited that day. 

As we were praying on the way home, one place stood out as being a great fit for us. It was in the same complex where we had tried to buy earlier, but we liked this property even better. When we submitted an offer, we included a letter expressing appreciation for the care we noticed that the homeowners had put into the place, and we also commented that the location would allow us to do a number of outdoor activities as a family. 

I now saw an abundance of options and possibilities in the homes we visited.

Our real estate agent told us that two other offers had been made on the property, so we waited patiently. When we found out that our offer had been accepted, we were overjoyed! The sellers were delighted that people who appreciated the home and the location would be moving in. Our spiritual sense of the place, which enabled us to see the good that was present, made all the difference.

It’s wonderful to know that as beloved children of God, we have access to everything we need within us. God’s will for each of us is goodness, purity, harmony, peace, joy, and love. Our job is to be expectant and joyful witnesses to the expression of God’s abundant goodness all around us. That’s living the perfect, spiritual sense of home—and there’s no better place to be!