Home

I walk into my home. I see my family. I’m greeted by my Mom, Dad, and my brother’s dog Allie with her bundle of energy. I have a chance to see my two brothers. I’m reminded of comfort and joy. I feel at peace. This is the moment I am looking forward to this Easter weekend. It’s been a few months since I have seen my family. Being at a college 6 hours from home has its difficulties, yet it has its blessings in giving me opportunities to branch off, grow, mature, and develop. Yet I still miss home. It reminds me of love. It brings a calming presence. To me it is a place where I can rest, especially before I graduate and enter my new beginning.

The story of Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday is one of a New Beginning. It marks the conquering of sin, the victory over brokenness, and the eternal presence of love. It signifies the true meaning of the gospel: the greatest love story ever told. Yet even during this Easter season, we often carry a lot of weight and baggage in our lives, filled with burdens that drag us down. It could be a test coming up that has been worrying you to death, or a new relationship or job that is extremely exciting yet also very uncertain, or a phase in your life that marks the beginning of a new and leaves behind the remnants of the old, or a battle with depression, anxiety, or struggle with mental health. Regardless, we all have a story that is unique in its own way yet has its parts that we want to forget about, run away from, or get over quickly. There is a piece of news that relates to this. It is promising and it offers a sense of renewal. As you most likely guessed what this piece of news is, it is the message of the Jesus’ death on the cross and his following resurrection. But the resurrection isn’t just the victory over evil to wipe away our transgressions, it is a story of hope, a sign of a new beginning. Jesus desires to meet you in the midst of the wilderness to walk with you so that you can leave behind the old and start fresh with the new.

I have mentioned in previous blogs that I do not know what the future holds. I wake up every morning with the certainty that I am uncertain about many things. In the midst of our pain, suffering, worries, anxieties, and uncertainty, we find ourselves scrambling and searching for the very thing that gives us comfort so that we know in the end it will be okay. But what happens when we grasp onto the wrong thing is that we aren’t fully comforted, but only partially fulfilled. We cannot find solidarity and peace for ourselves if we seek it from the sources and very things that were never meant to provide the light. As the longing in our hearts ventures for something greater, let us be led to the origin of what love really looks like. Because in this moment, of where we find love, is the place where we find our new beginnings. A place where we can lay down our plights and feel at ease, at comfort, and at peace. Jesus’ resurrection was meant for you and I to experience the guidance that walks us through the wilderness and leads us back to where we belong: home. Home is a place for family. We are a family. Let us act like a family and embrace one another as a family. You were never meant to do this alone and you were never meant to be away from what really matters. So friends let’s walk with one another to where we shall feast at our heavenly banquet. And let us start on our new beginnings and leave behind the old to where we set out for our true destination: home.

"A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it." - George A. Moore