Home is Where the Heart Is

You can never go home again, but the truth is you can never leave home, so it's all right.  

-- Maya Angelou

We’re ending the second full week of national lockdown and I’ve only gone out in my car twice. It’s weird to see people wearing masks and to see whole aisles at the grocery store as empty as Dodger Stadium. It’s weird to see tape on the floor marking where you can safely stand to comply with the six-feet social-distancing requirements. I miss going to work, church, and the gym. I miss seeing my friends and I dislike doing meetings over Zoom and Facetime instead of over coffee at Starbucks.

I have been getting out daily, to walk the neighborhood with Beautiful Karla. But to run an errand almost feels wrong. As if the Covid cops are going to pull me over and demand to know where I’m going. I’m glad I have a lovely place in which to shelter. Not since George Jefferson has someone “moved up” as dramatically as I.

That said, a man’s home is supposed to be his castle, and mine sure is. One’s castle can come in many types, from a mansion to an apartment. You can have a bungalow at the beach or a cabin in the mountains. Maybe you yearn for your yurt or crave your cottage’s seclusion? Do you dance in a duplex or tango in your townhome? Hopefully, you’re not reading this from a halfway house, a house of ill repute, or a house of correction.

Wherever you find yourself, your home is where you hang your hat. It’s also where you dine, so make sure the kids aren’t eating you out of house and home. Speaking of food, do you bring home the bacon, or does your spouse? Perhaps both. I’m grateful for my wife. She’s a blessing to come home to and definitely someone to write home about. But then I’d be mailing a letter to myself. Back in the day, it was said that woman’s place was in the house. Thankfully, times have changed and we both work at keeping house. I admire those who choose to be stay-at-home moms. It’s a real challenge to juggle all the housework and the kids’ homework.

This down time is also a good opportunity to get your house in order. Not to be morbid, but in a spring-cleaning sense. Just make sure, as Jesus said, that your house is built on the rock and not the sand. I also hope that you have peace in your home. Always remember when you venture out to get the mail or return from visiting the backyard to declare, “Peace to this House,” (Luke 10:5). This reminds me of my childhood. When my father would return home from work, he would announce his arrival by shouting, “Hello the house!” Unfortunately, the house rarely responded. It can be rough living in such close quarters for so long. So remember to seek peace. Because Jesus also said that a house divided cannot stand. 

During this quarantine, you can be home free while your kids play house. These days I feel like a homebody, as I watch Homeland and everything else on Netflix. You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to know that Ozark is the best show since House of Cards. Many movies have “house” in their titles. They’re usually horror movies, except for the Home Alone series, which was equally frightening to those who appreciate good movies.

There are almost as many songs about “home” as there are Biblical “house” references (887). Phil Collins repeatedly requested that we take him home, while John Denver needed the country roads to do so. Eddie Money more specifically wanted to go home tonight as opposed to Supertramp who desired to Take the Long Way Home. Genesis has a Home by the Sea and Carrie Underwood’s Home is Temporary. Geographically speaking, can you finish singing Sweet Home Alabama from your Old Kentucky Home before Milt Jackson gets Back Home to Indiana? Dido clearly understood sheltering in place when she sang Don’t Leave Home. Based on their hit, Won’t Go Home Without You, Maroon 5 clearly doesn’t grasp social distancing. Maybe front man Adam Levine saw too many Home Alone movies.

The Coronavirus has also knocked out sports from our daily lives. Basketball and hockey are on a hiatus. The horses aren’t coming down the home stretch (the Kentucky Derby was moved to September), and baseball isn’t even starting. There are seven players named House in the history of Major League Baseball. There are also three Householders too, but none of the 10 were household names. Frank House protected home plate for the Tigers in the 50s. He later served in the Alabama House of Representatives. Having passed away in 2005, House now calls Cedar Hill Cemetery home. 

Yes, this is a hectic time. It’s stressful and uncertain. The economy is in the tank and maybe even your job is teetering. But I hope that without the pressure of rushing to and fro, without little league, happy hours, and meetings, you’re finding a new sense of rest. Maybe you’re reading more or learning different habits to develop solitude. Perhaps you’re doing extended meditating or praying, or you’re finding creative ways to enjoy your spouse and kids. I even started daily yoga. I’m sure when our lives return to normal, when we return to being busy; working and shopping, eating out, vacationing, and gathering in crowds we might long for the quiet slowness of our so-called quarantined life.

We may even reflect back on this season and think that it wasn’t so bad. Perhaps in the words of a famous movie Dorothy we might just click our heels and whisper:  

“There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home.”