Where Do You Live?

The economy has hit people hard in recent weeks. Young families are restructuring their budgets, boomers are reassessing retirement dates, and senior citizens wonder how they will make it on fixed income. Mortgages,  refinancing, and home sales are news items. My Internet home page featured an article on the best and worst places to live. With one click, I navigated to the article and noticed that the most expensive place had multi-million dollar real estate. Another made the list based on cultural opportunities. Our choice, how we determine the “best place to live,” may have nothing to do with mansion-type homes or a world class symphony but may be related to a number of other personal matters: family, schools, churches, jobs, shopping, climate, recreation, property taxes, health care and others. Some prefer the noise and busyness of a city; others relish a quiet rural setting.

I have lived in a number of places in my lifetime. I grew up in the city and walked to school with friends from my ethnic neighborhood. I went to college in a rural community and lived on a Caribbean island for the first two years of marriage. My husband and I eventually moved to a small NY town, then spent a few years in the south, and finally settled in an old steel community. I found adventure with each location and each met my needs and purposes in my different life seasons.   I confess that I enjoyed some more than others. I felt more connected and made closer friends in some places than in others. The older I get, the more I realize that none of them is home yet. I am just traveling on the planet and making stops in temporary locations.  Some day, I will be finally home.

But while I am traveling, Psalm 91 gives me a preview of what is to come.  The Psalmist tells us to dwell in the secret place of the most high; to live in the shadow of the Almighty. That place is a perfect spot for celebration as I connect with the one who has drawn me with loving kindness. It is the perfect place of reverence as I am awestruck that the Creator made and loves me. It is a place of security as I find comfort and rest in difficult and uncertain times. His place is my real address—the place where I live, where I am connected, and where I find joy. It is number one on the Best Places to Live list.

Reflection:  Read Psalm 91. Is it your real address? What would change if you made it your daily address? Is it a comfort to you?