think back to the CHRISTmases of your youth. what memories or what feelings can you resurrect that created a sense of home to you then? if you need a little help, i'll bet there was probably a sense of belonging accompanying the concept of home in your mind, a sense of belonging.
maybe you didn't think about it consciously in those days, but can't most of us remember feeling that we sort of fit in in our home? we knew our place with our brothers and sisters. we had a sense of attachment to our parents and our grandparents, a sense of relational warmth and connectedness.
can't most of us think back to childhood CHRISTmases and remember not being worried about whether or not our loved ones would be there for us? we just assumed that they'd be there. so for many of us, home is about belonging, belonging to people who love us.
what else comes to mind when you think of home? wouldn't a sense of safety, of confidence be right up there? a true home is a safe place. a true home is a place of comfort and protection from outside forces. a true home is a familiar place. it's a predictable environment where certain family traditions provide a sense of continuity and stability, especially around CHRISTmas. that's where all the traditions and the rituals happen, right?
do you remember some of your CHRISTmas rituals? maybe you were a real-tree family, or maybe you were fake-tree people. maybe you opened your presents on CHRISTmas eve – or you opened them on CHRISTmas morning. maybe your big CHRISTmas dinner happened on CHRISTmas eve – or on CHRISTmas day.
but those and a host of other family rituals were a whole lot more important than you realized as a child because they gave you an underlying sense of safety of confidence in your home. that's an essential ingredient in what home is about. home has something to do with a sense of belonging, and it has something to do with a sense of safety. we feel safe.
just a thought from the front porch…
5 comments:
Family rituals, whether holiday celebrations or summer vacations, do create a sense of security and belonging, of protection and having a place in the universe.
Suddenly I felt sad thinking of those homeless people. I live in a third world country where poverty is widespread. It is a normal sight to see homes under the bridges, without electricity and clean water they survive.
It is surprising to see families living in such condition to still enjoy life, together they feel a sense of belonging and safety inside their cardboard home.
home is not necessarily a location is it?
Yes Bill, it is the family that makes it a home..
I really miss my parents and my husband's parents. We were so blessed to have them as long as we did. Christmas gatherings are not the same without them. Glad I can focus on Jesus to help me through.
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