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Cal's Pastoral Epistles
"Home Is Where The Heart Is"
September 18, 2008
I could not believe my luck. I found the pot of gold at the end of the
rainbow in the MacQuarie Center Mall. Here I was on the outskirts of
Sydney, Australia suffering a sports withdrawal when I came upon it.
Actually, my treasure chest was filled with the black and gold of the
Pittsburgh Steelers on a wide screen television set outside the doors of
Dick's Electronics Outlet.
At this time of year the sport of choice in Sydney is either rugby or soccer,
which is called football down under. There is no mention of baseball and the
pennant races or football, as we know it back home, on the news or in the
papers. So when I saw the colors of my favorite team playing live on
Monday at mid-day, I settled in right there at the mall and pretended I was
sitting home in my living room for a few minutes. That's when Mike came
along. We began talking football and before long got into "life" stuff.
Mike was born in Chicago and moved to LA when he was a teenager. After
college he came to Sydney on his first job assignment and has been here
ever since. He married a local girl ten years ago and they have four children
now. As we watched the game, and talked about sports and life, he told me
he had often thought about moving back home to the states. He said that
there was a part of him still there but now that he had established pretty
deep roots here in Sydney, he didn't think he could ever break away.
The Steelers won the game and Mike and I parted ways with a handshake.
As I walked back to my daughter's apartment, Mike's words kept coming
back to me. So did the words of scripture that remind us that this is not our
home. We are in the world, but not of the world. Our future is now and
forever, going to be with God.
For the first time in my life it made sense to me. It's funny but the whole
time I was in Sydney I kept thinking about what was happening back in
Norwich. Don't get me wrong. I had a great time. I spent every minute
enjoying what the city had to offer. I toured the Opera House, visited the
Tarango Zoo, took a ferry across the harbor, worshipped in the Hillsong
Church, saw the sights in Darling Harbour, rode on the left side of the road.
It was fun. Yet, I had a sense that I was just passing through and would
soon be returning home.
For nine days I lived in between the two worlds. The Scriptures remind us
that we are doing the same thing everyday wherever we live as people of
faith. Our home is with God. He has established a place for us in his
kingdom and we will be there for eternity. Every Sunday when we go to
worship, our hearts are stirred to remember this simple fact so that we
won't establish our roots too deeply. We are just passing through. We can
have fun. We can enjoy God's creation and the people we meet along the
way. But we are just passing through on the way to glory land. That's
where we will find our pot of gold called love.
God bless. See you in church. Cal
September 18, 2008
I could not believe my luck. I found the pot of gold at the end of the
rainbow in the MacQuarie Center Mall. Here I was on the outskirts of
Sydney, Australia suffering a sports withdrawal when I came upon it.
Actually, my treasure chest was filled with the black and gold of the
Pittsburgh Steelers on a wide screen television set outside the doors of
Dick's Electronics Outlet.
At this time of year the sport of choice in Sydney is either rugby or soccer,
which is called football down under. There is no mention of baseball and the
pennant races or football, as we know it back home, on the news or in the
papers. So when I saw the colors of my favorite team playing live on
Monday at mid-day, I settled in right there at the mall and pretended I was
sitting home in my living room for a few minutes. That's when Mike came
along. We began talking football and before long got into "life" stuff.
Mike was born in Chicago and moved to LA when he was a teenager. After
college he came to Sydney on his first job assignment and has been here
ever since. He married a local girl ten years ago and they have four children
now. As we watched the game, and talked about sports and life, he told me
he had often thought about moving back home to the states. He said that
there was a part of him still there but now that he had established pretty
deep roots here in Sydney, he didn't think he could ever break away.
The Steelers won the game and Mike and I parted ways with a handshake.
As I walked back to my daughter's apartment, Mike's words kept coming
back to me. So did the words of scripture that remind us that this is not our
home. We are in the world, but not of the world. Our future is now and
forever, going to be with God.
For the first time in my life it made sense to me. It's funny but the whole
time I was in Sydney I kept thinking about what was happening back in
Norwich. Don't get me wrong. I had a great time. I spent every minute
enjoying what the city had to offer. I toured the Opera House, visited the
Tarango Zoo, took a ferry across the harbor, worshipped in the Hillsong
Church, saw the sights in Darling Harbour, rode on the left side of the road.
It was fun. Yet, I had a sense that I was just passing through and would
soon be returning home.
For nine days I lived in between the two worlds. The Scriptures remind us
that we are doing the same thing everyday wherever we live as people of
faith. Our home is with God. He has established a place for us in his
kingdom and we will be there for eternity. Every Sunday when we go to
worship, our hearts are stirred to remember this simple fact so that we
won't establish our roots too deeply. We are just passing through. We can
have fun. We can enjoy God's creation and the people we meet along the
way. But we are just passing through on the way to glory land. That's
where we will find our pot of gold called love.
God bless. See you in church. Cal
Pastor Cal Lord writes these weekly epistles to
help us see God in every day things.
help us see God in every day things.
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