Getting Homesick

I'm sure in the past few days you have heard about the 12 year old Boy Scout from Greensboro who was lost in the WNC mountains from last Saturday until Tuesday. It has been a heart-wrenching story and thankfully he has been found and seems to be in pretty good shape. Today's newspaper stated that he wandered away from the campsite because he was homesick and hoping to find a way home.

Certainly each one of us knows what it feels like to be homesick. It may have been that first day of kindergarten or college, at summer camp, or when we've moved to a new town. I remember when my family moved here from Asheville a little over 1 1/2 years ago. I was really homesick, even though my "home," my family, was with me.

There is also a different kind of homesickness. Near 1700 years ago, St. Augustine wrote, "Our hearts are restless until they find rest in you." As Christians, we know that God is our Home. Until we can find that rest in our Home, our hearts are restless and we are homesick. The homesickness is never really filled during this lifetime, but as we strive to journey along the Christian path, we do have those moments and days and even months when we are at home and at peace. There are so many times in our lives where we are searching, where we are looking for meaning. There are so many times that things don't feel quite right. We may try to fill that sick part of our heart with other things - relationships, alcohol, sex, shopping, staying busy, tv or other things that numb the pain temporarily. Yet, we know that God - and our relationship with God - is the only thing that really takes care of that pain, that provides us with a home for which we need not be sick.

When you're feeling homesick next, don't try to numb it with the things of this world. Spend time with God and with Christian sisters and brothers. Our homesickness will never fully go away during this lifetime - it will come and go in waves - but the only way to deal with it is to seek out God, our true Home.