Home can mean many things to many people. For some, home may be a cozy spot that fills the heart with warmth, happiness, and comfort. Or a place that brings to mind the enjoyment of beautiful natural surroundings. Or the thought of happy times with family and friends. Or a place to be quietly alone with oneself.
Over the years I’ve come to see that our true home is not so much a physical location or set of circumstances, but the peace within us that comes with knowing that we are always in the presence of God, good. With God, we find a truly satisfying sense of home.
From a spiritual standpoint, being “at home” really means abiding in the consciousness of divine Love, God, where we know that we are at-one with God, embraced in the atmosphere of Love. It is to be conscious of divine Love as being all, and that because we are inseparable from God as His spiritual reflection, we cannot ever be outside of His presence. It means knowing we are always cared for and watched over, always protected and safe in Love. Why? Because our true God-given home is heaven, perfect harmony, provided for us by God here and now, because we are each an idea in divine Mind, God, held within Him and governed by Him. This spiritual understanding of our true home, our at-one-ment with God, is peaceful and nurturing.
In the Bible the Apostle Paul beautifully illustrates this spiritual definition of home when he says, “For in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). In this atmosphere of divine Love, we exist, we are active, we are living—without limits. Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of Christian Science, assures us, “Pilgrim on earth, thy home is heaven; stranger, thou art the guest of God” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 254). And elsewhere in the same book she defines heaven as “harmony; the reign of Spirit; government by divine Principle; spirituality; bliss; the atmosphere of Soul” (p. 587). In this heavenly home, the consciousness of Love, our thoughts and lives cannot be invaded by sin, disease, or death, because evil does not exist in divine Love, the All-in-all. There are no mishaps or accidents waiting to happen; there is no sickness or inharmony—only perfect peace, health, and joy.
Abiding in the consciousness of Love, we know that we are stationed in the kingdom of heaven, at home in Spirit.
It’s natural to want to live in such a heavenly atmosphere, where all is bliss—where divine Spirit reigns, where divine Principle governs, where divine Soul blesses. It’s also natural for us to prayerfully seek a greater understanding of the spiritual atmosphere in which we live and move as God’s ideas. It’s only right that each of us feels the blessings our at-one-ment with our heavenly Father-Mother God brings. And it is divinely natural that we feel and experience this spiritual sense of home, of reality, right here and now. Abiding in the consciousness of Love, we know that we are stationed in the kingdom of heaven, at home in Spirit.
Sometimes, though, it may feel as if we’re far from the kingdom of heaven, far from God, and far from having a blissful sense of home. However, Christ Jesus teaches us, “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). Where is this “within” but within the spiritual consciousness of the hereness and nowness of God, good?
These are some of the ideas I prayed with on a daily basis prior to an extended trip to India from my home in the United States. In my prayers I declared that I live and move and have my being in divine Love and am never actually away from my home, or in a place where evil—whatever is opposed to God’s goodness—can strike. But during a short layover in Brussels on my return trip, I began to feel extremely ill. Nevertheless, I decided to go ahead and get back on the plane to continue the flight home. It was evident that I was battling some type of severe food poisoning.
I was traveling with my husband, so I asked him to pray for me until we landed. In addition to his prayers, he voiced clear spiritual truths to me throughout the flight, assuring me of God’s presence and tender care for me. I understood that God’s harmony could not be invaded and neither could mine as God’s reflection—that my health was intact within this divine consciousness, my true home.
After we landed I called a Christian Science practitioner to pray for me. She immediately responded, and I quickly felt the power of God’s presence with me, and I knew that I didn’t need to get to my physical home before I could feel peace, but could feel it right then and there. I saw that illness was simply an imposition, a belief in the reality of matter, or sickness, trying to impose itself on me, and that this could not invade my “home”—the consciousness of divine Love. I felt an uplifting spiritual understanding of God’s care, and the comfort that comes from knowing where we truly live. While I still felt some weakness and fatigue, I was no longer sick!
This turnaround happened within just a few hours. My full strength and energy returned quickly, and normal functioning of the body was completely restored within a few days.
We are never without God and His care for us. We are always in His loving presence. An understanding of this brings peace and comfort when needed. It uplifts thought to a higher sense of home—to the realization that we forever dwell in the divine presence of Love. We each can gain a spiritual sense of home as being heaven, here and now, and feel Love’s tender, healing touch.
