Abode

During the last Christmas season, I was able to have a mini-conversation with a friend about the definition of the word 'home'. It wasn't really an in-depth, academic discourse but our efforts at giving meaning to the word left us more semi-confused than fully clarified (a dictionary would certainly have given us some well-established and generally accepted exposition of the word).

My friend, who used to live in the Philippines but now lives and works in the United States, said she felt at home in both countries, and would miss one when she's in the other.

I chimed in with an opinion that home is really where your heart is and that it's actually the people you love that make up home, regardless of location. Adding to that, I expressed that you can be in any geographical location in the world and still be at home.

As the discussion went on and I continued to ponder on my thoughts about the matter, a question arose in my mind:

What and/or where is home to me now?

If I were to go by a technical definition of home, which might refer to the place where one was born and currently lives in, then Cebu City would be my home and I am home.

If I were to go by my first opinion on the meaning of the word, which says home is where the heart is, I'd say home is now somewhere else; a place other than where I currently live in because my heart is with my family who live abroad. By this definition, home would be in a far away country.

If I were to go by another of my thoughts on this topic, which says home can be anywhere in the world, then I'd say home is wherever God would send me to go. In that sense, I am currently in-between homes as I feel the need to leave my current one.

And if I were to go with the biblical view on the matter, I would say two things:

1) I am now at home, spiritually speaking, because God is my Home

and

2) I am still waiting to go home, physically speaking, because my body is not yet with God.

- - - - -

It's the start of the new year and a lot of thoughts are ruminating in my mind.

Whatever and wherever home is or should be, for me one thing is sure:

Home will always be a paradox. It's here and now but also there and someday.