What is home? This question was posed and discussed by President Mullen the first day of classes, and prompted a lot of reflection in my own heart about how the Holy Spirit has been convicting me about what I call “home.”
As I moved out of my childhood “home” and into my Grandma’s house for college during my freshman year, I began to develop a crisis. I spent most of my time at college, slept and “lived” at Grandma’s, grew up where my parents live, studied abroad a semester in a place where I grew roots, and then lived at a camp every summer. With so many places and people, what did home mean to me?
I fell into the party of students President Mullen described in chapel who are disappointed after coming here because Houghton did not meet the glorious and romanticized picture of “home.” For me, that picture had been painted in my head by my family since infancy (Go Highlanders!). Struggling with my physical insecurity of a place to call “home,” I examined my loneliness and confusion. This search began with identity. By knowing where my identity lies, I thought I could figure out where home was.
What was that identity? My identity, I know for certain, is that I am a child of God and a servant in His glorious Kingdom. He identifies my worldview, influences how I make decisions, and determines what I choose to believe in or act upon. Feeling like a nomad of sorts in this world, I eventually came to the conclusion that my “home” is in heaven with Jesus, so wherever Jesus is, that is where my home is here on earth.
I feel “at home” when I am in the presence of my Savior and in a place of deep fellowship with His followers. But even in isolation, my “home” is ultimately located in my relationship with Christ. I once read of a missionary who was imprisoned in solitary confinement for a year. When he was released and people asked what it was like, he responded, “It was like a honeymoon with Jesus.”
May even in our loneliest moment, Jesus be home! “Home” can be wherever I am, whether that be at Houghton, my grandmother’s, the town I grew up in, Africa, camp, or anywhere else on this earth. My earthly home is found in my relationship with Christ and His church. To be “at home,” I think, is to draw near to Jesus and the foot of the cross. The closer one is to Jesus, the more at home they will feel in Him and with others.
In an article I was recently reading regarding Billy Graham and his stance on racial issues, I came across this quote, “The closer people of all races get to Christ and his cross, the closer they will get to one another.” This concept, I believe, carries into our Houghton community. The more emphasis that is placed on Jesus and surrendering our lives to Him at the foot of the cross, the more united Houghton will be in relationships with the Savior and with one another. Billy Graham also said, “History shows that the thought of Christ on the cross has been more potent than anything else in arousing a compassion for suffering and indignation at injustice.” With all the chaos, hurt, and other issues plaguing this campus, I keep drawing to the conclusion that the answer to all of this lies in Jesus Christ and the gospel, as simple or profound as that may sound.
I long more than anything for Christ Jesus to be glorified at Houghton College. I hope we may be a body of believers whose identity, passions, purpose, and “home” will be found in Jesus and His work at the cross of Calvary. By being at home in Christ, we will adopt as a body this Calvary love that crosses all barriers.
Aubrey is a senior majoring in inclusive childhood education and intercultural studies.
