|
Can Home Be Destroyed By Wind?
“Hi! So your home was damaged by the wind?” The customer service representative inquired on the other end of the line.
I responded without hesitation. “My home is intact. My wife and I are in deep love, and the children are fabulous.”
The lady on the other end laughed. I told her that the wind had blown off some portions of our roof, but it hadn’t affected our home.
A home can exist without buildings. One definition for the word “home” in Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary is, “The social unit formed by a family living together.” In the culture of the Kamba people of Kenya, where I was raised, home is sometimes synonymous with family. Joshua 24:15 says, “…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” In this instance, the word “house” refers to Joshua’s family.
Over the years, I have recalled my unrest when I finally graduated from college. After eleven years of higher education, I realized people often prepare for a short-term career. Enormous amounts of time and resources are used to prepare for a career that may only last for a few years. I felt more could be done to help people prepare for their life’s work and to help homes remain intact.
Such preparations could include classes on “Happy Life” following the phrase, “I DO.” Life-skill courses could be taught, such as “Resolving Family Conflicts,” “Avoiding Divorce,” “Raising the Next Generation,” “Helping Grandparents Pass On in Peace and Tranquillity” and “Relating With Others.”
Home is the central hub that preserves and perpetuates cultures, societies and human endeavors. It is the fabric that brings all segments of progress together. When things fall apart at home, cultures can not stand true to their creeds, societies crumble and humanity retrogresses morally. Mrs. Sigourney said, “The strength of a nation, especially of a republican nation, is in the intelligent and well-ordered homes of the people.”
While buildings are constructed and repaired when a need arises, homes need construction and maintenance systems that are not dictated by temporal perspectives. However, many homes have been sacrificed at the alter of “personal success.” anything that replaces home in one’s interest and commitment. David McKay stated that, “No success can compensate for failure in the home.”
In Timothy 5:8, we read, “But if any provide not for his own, especially for those of his own house, he has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel.” Beyond placing bread on the table, provision here may refer to time shared together, addressing emotional needs and passing on virtues that have stood the test of time. Another aspect that is often overlooked is forgiveness.
Homes are a by-product of marriage. To preserve and perpetuate a home and family, one’s marriage must be nourished. Marnie Reed Crowel relates marriage life to fire by saying, “To keep a fire burning brightly there’s one easy rule: Keep the logs together, near enough to keep warm and far enough apart for breathing room. Good fire, good marriage, same rule.” The “far enough apart” allows for differences.
My wife and I are from the same tribe, culture and town. We use the same mother tongue and are of the same faith. With this similar background, I often wondered why we view life from such different angles. My wife said, “If we were to do things the same way, think the same way and have the same interests, then life wouldn’t be fun. We wouldn’t learn anything from one another, and more importantly one of us wouldn’t be necessary!” I got the message. I keep my uniqueness while accepting hers and celebrating the differences. Now, we are blessed with three daughters who view life as if they are from three different nations and one boy who has convinced us that he has come from another world.
Home is more than a building. It is the nest where we are hatched, and given the gentle push to be ourselves. It is our first contact with the world. It is our first school, our first workplace, our first church and our first place of belonging. It is the net that we fall back into when all else falls apart.
Home is what must remain intact when physical and “social buildings” are damaged.
|
