At Home

“Tis home where e’er the heart is” is a phrase from a poem published in 1829 in several newspapers in the U.S. The poem is probably the source of the phrase “home is where the heart is”. The exact wording we now use is found first, in 1857, in the novel Scandal by J. T. Bickford:

‘Describe me a home, Willie.’ ‘Well, I should say, a woman of Kate Bently’s appearance-‘ ‘Nay, I said not a wife, but a home.’ ‘Home is where the heart is, Katie’.

In Luke 2, Jesus appears to be comfortably at home in the Temple listening to the teachers. While his parents are upset because he has been missing for three days, Jesus is perfectly content. He is at home with people who have thoughts and wisdom that he questions or treasures. He is at home with the teachers. Being “at home” does not necessarily pertain to a building or even surroundings. It can mean the people you are with. A home without people is only a building. 

I have felt that I was at home with the universe and with the Creator of the universe on a couple of occasions in my life. This is a rare gift, at least for me. God wants us to be “At Home” with Him. Have you felt that serenity, that deep abiding peace, that feeling of being At Home?