Making
Home
“The
ordinary acts that we practice every day at home are of more
importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.”
Thomas
Moore (Care of the Soul)
I
heard an interview a couple of days ago with some Syrian children,
who now live in a refugee camp in a neighboring country. They were
playing and going to school as children do, but the striking thing
about them was their longing for home. Even though they barely
escaped with their lives and the clothes on their backs, and watched
their neighborhoods systematically bombed into rubble, they longed to
go home. That's not a “head thing;” that's a “soul thing.”
Home
is that place inside where we feel safe and accepted. Sometimes we're
lucky enough to manifest it in the physical world.
If we do have that great good fortune, taking care of it is soul
work. Birds choose only the right ingredients to build and feather
their nests. Bears may spend the entire summer locating a place for
their den; then preparing a deep bed of leaves and grass so it's perfect when winter comes. My dog, Liza, takes five minutes every
single night scratching her bed into exactly the right shape. I heard
a man who lives in a tent city here in Birmingham talk about heating
rocks in a camp fire to put inside his tent at night. He swore they
keep him warm. We all want the comfort that our own "home" provides.
The
very simple acts of making and caring for home are soothing to the
soul no matter how humble that home may be. They are more important
than anything money can buy.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
No comments:
Post a Comment