No Longer Lost but Not at Home

Greetings Dear Reader,

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say. – J.R.R. Tolkien

I recently had lunch with someone who was updating me on some growth areas in life. This person commented on feeling “no longer lost but not at home.” This struck a chord so very deep inside me and the note has carried in my mind for days now. I wake up thinking about this phrase. It is often the last thought I have at night before I drift off to sleep. Music that I know carries the same thought echoes in my dreams.

I have known this truth for decades but of late it has become of primary importance to me. This thought is at the heart of my writing and even my signature. We are on a journey. We know where we are headed: to God. We know where we come from: a lost existence that is impossible to escape without Christ. In between is mostly a mystery.

I have taken drives from a vacation spot to home via routes that were unplanned and unknown. It is always the journey that captivates me. It is always over too soon. The miles slip past and you wish you had stopped at the Opossum Grits Diner or to see the lost underground sea. Even though home is your destination the road offers so many beautiful and wonderfully strange things along the way.

I think that sometimes I get so busy with the getting home part that I forget to notice the potential stops en route. In the same vein I find that I get distracted by things along the way that hinder the journey. I get in my own way so often and sometimes in the way of others. I forget that what I do along the journey is what matters. The place I came from is lifeless and holds nothing for me. Where I am headed is set and offers more than I can imagine.

What matters is what I do along the way. I am not in a place where I belong. I am ruined for this world. Anything I do to try to fit in will not work, but I can do things to shape my pocket of this world to reflect a little of home. I realize that this may sound meandering but that is how I travel (I wanted to say “roll” but it seemed too cheesy). Even those who abandon Christ for other detours and rougher roads will find that the journey ends in the same place.

We are all on a journey toward God. Once we find Christ we understand that path we need to follow, but it creates within us a longing for a home that we cannot see and that we have not yet reached. For me, I must assure that I follow the path given me and do so with my whole heart. When I feel lonely for home I need to remember that it is what I do on the journey that makes the final turn sweet. For now, it is to the journey I must attend and to the road I must keep my feet.

There is a joy in the journey
There’s a light we can love on the way
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey. – Michael Card

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."