The essence of home

One's dwelling place is not really defined by the physical structure or the objects in it, by family upbringing, income, or the influence of friends. It is , instead, defined by one's spiritual concept of home. And it can be improved by first improving that concept.

For instance, beauty, order, and grace are integral elements of man's spiritual home. They are aspects of the immortal environment in which he, as God made him, lives and moves. When we increase our understanding of these qualities, and they become part of our lives, we will find ourselves able to take significant steps toward making for ourselves a truly beautiful, orderly, and graceful place to live.

The book of Proverbs states, "Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: and by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches." n1

n1 Proverbs 24:3, 4.

The apartment in which a friend of mine was living at one time was, in many ways, the result of prayer. It was an expression of the divine affluence that belongs to each of us if we will acknowledge God as the source of supply.

When looking for a place to live, she first considered the qualities of home that were important to her. Openness, spaciousness, and light were particularly meaningful at the time. So were safety and convenience. She realized these qualities were derived, first and foremost, from God, from His omnipresence, infinity, intelligence, and love. She knew that the more God's allness and infinitude were understood, and the more man's absolute inseparability from God as His expression was seen, the stronger would be the certainty of freedom and peace. Because God is eternal Love, a deep comprehension of this fact had to ensure reliable physical protection. Limitation did not have to be accepted.

A prime motive in moving into the apartment was to have a comfortable and attractive home to share with others. She wanted friends and acquaintances to feel "at home." This unselfed love in turn opened the way for greater evidence of God's care. Although she had no furnishings at first, they were acquired quickly, and often in surprising and unexpected ways at very minimal cost or trouble. A decision was made not to "just get by" but to have an apartment that expressed a high sense of quality, permanence, and joy. These are ever-present spiritual attributes, hence there could be, in reality, no lack or limitation in their expression.

The early prophets, as well as Christ Jesus, proved spiritual truths time and again as they took away lack in the lives of those around them. And my friend felt she'd experienced some of that same Christ-power in her own life. As Mary Baker Eddy n2 writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,m "It is not well to imagine that Jesus demonstrated the divine power to heal only for a select number or for a limited period of time, since to all mankind and in every hour, divine Love supplies all good." n3

n2 Mrs. Eddy is the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science.

n3 Science and Health,m p. 494.

DAILY BIBLE VERSE O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. Isaiah 54:11, 12