Sunday, November 27, 2011

No longer sojourners

"Through him we have access in one spirit to the Father.  So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God."
-- Ephesians 2:18-19

I suppose it is irreverent of me to put this here, given that while we were in New Orleans there was a Saints game; does that make us -- for however short a time -- fellow citizens with the Saints?

I suspect not: New Orleans is markedly different from Seattle, and though the weather wasn't warm enough for us to have dressed this way, we were still quite obviously tourists, not citizens.

So for a time we have been sojourners in the land of Saints, and now we are back home (having arrived shortly after midnight); is this place, our home, what the household of God feels like?

The house smells a bit musty, but the animals are delighted to see us and the neighbors who cared for them are, I'm sure, looking forward to re-connecting and hearing about our travels.  We slept easily and well, happy to be back in our own beds, and -- still (though it's after noon) in our robes and jammies -- are now busy catching up on emails, snail mail, and to-do lists, waiting to hear that our one daughter still in flight has safely landed.  Perhaps the household of God is equally filled with the little details of life, and each of them has its own gift to bring to the journey...

But all last night New Orleans continued to weave its magical spell over my dreams.  I wonder if that's true for the saints who die and make their way to the promised land, to find their home in the arms of God:  do they continue to dream, for a time, of the journey they left behind?

2 comments:

Maureen said...

Fun image!

So pleased you had such a wonderful time in New Orleans. Such a great town, still, I think.

Louise Gallagher said...

What lovely questions you ask. I shall ponder.

Glad you made it home safe and secure to your own beds and animals and 'things'!

Hugs