{"id":22265,"date":"2021-09-02T10:47:38","date_gmt":"2021-09-02T17:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/?p=22265"},"modified":"2021-09-02T16:27:31","modified_gmt":"2021-09-02T23:27:31","slug":"faith-and-values-but-where-is-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/faith-and-values-but-where-is-home\/","title":{"rendered":"But where is home?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Rev. Paul Graves<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(This is the latest in a long series of occasional letters Paul has written to his grandchildren beginning in September 1997, after Katie was born.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Katie, Claire and Andy,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a non-stop treat for your grandma and me to spend part of early August with you and your parents in Hillsboro! Even with the appropriate COVID restrictions in place, we could enjoy each other and some outside activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was almost a thematic visit for us. We had three graduations and two summer birthdays to celebrate. The theme? \u201cTransition.\u201d Every one of you is going through one kind of transition or another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Katie\u2019s college graduation led to a human relations job. Andy\u2019s high school graduation now takes him to college in September and a possible career in social work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your mom\u2019s graduation from nursing school resulted in a great job at the hospital in Hillsboro. Claire is a college senior who is already planning on graduate school in forensic psychology. And your dad just turned 50, always a transitional age for many reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I thought about your many transitions, I couldn\u2019t help but reflect on our 2019 Sandpoint transition from our former house to our new house. That journey is now \u201cimmortalized\u201d in my new children\u2019s illustrated story about our adventurous cat, \u201cSox Looks for Home<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His efforts to return to our former home three times (across a very busy state highway) resulted in some \u201cfun\u201d adventures that showed us how determined Sox was to find home. He tells the story, so it\u2019s an almost-true version of what really happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I doubt if he really asked the longing question on the last page: \u201cBut where is home?\u201d Yet I know variations of that question pester almost everyone at some time or another, including you three!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know each of you are excited about your immediate and long-term futures. Grandma and I are also eager to see how those futures unfold for each of you. And we will stay eager and hopeful for you as long as we live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having said that, we also know you are moving into life-phases where \u201chome\u201d will take on many different looks. Each time you try something new, or enter into some new relationship, personally or professionally, you\u2019ll be looking for another metaphorical home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I just read a long story with an unusual centerpiece. It was an artificial life-size palm tree that was \u201cplanted\u201d at a family\u2019s home. Surprisingly, it didn\u2019t take long for local birds to build nests and begin families in the branches of that fake tree. For birds, home is always where they find a place of refuge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A place of refuge is certainly one important dimension of home, isn\u2019t it. In that regard, birds, cats and people are alike, always looking for a safe space, a home. We carry that desire within us for our entire lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ancient Hebrew nomads certainly looked for \u201chome\u201d in their wandering ways, even when they settled in their Promised Land. One of their psalms, Psalm 84, is a favorite reminder for many people today, partly because it describes birds made their homes in the shadow of God\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our spiritual journeys always have a unique mix of satisfaction and \u201cdis-ease\u201d to them. Sometimes our searching is more obvious to us. In those times, we can more quickly relate to Sox\u2019s last-page question: \u201cBut where is home?\u201d At other times, our searching is more unconscious, maybe even dormant. Then something happens that prompts us to wonder if we\u2019re where we really want to be. That\u2019s when being comfortable with Sox\u2019s question might be a very good thing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his latest Faith and Values column, Rev. Paul Graves shares a letter recently written to his grandchildren where he addresses the transitions that will only continue to take place in their lives as they continue to grow and search for the spiritual and physical ‘home’ away from home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":22266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,84,73,16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22265","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-greater-northwest-area","8":"category-nurturing-elders","9":"category-older-adult-ministries","10":"category-pacific-northwest-conference"},"yoast_head":"\nBut where is home? - Greater Northwest Area | News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/faith-and-values-but-where-is-home\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"But where is home? - Greater Northwest Area | News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In his latest Faith and Values column, Rev. 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