Homeward Bound

I have had the perfect cottage moment for the weekend. It rained for most of the day Saturday. It was worth it to see a huge rainbow that I wasn't expecting. All of us who were at the cottage gathered on the dock to see a colorful promise stretched throughout the sky and reflected on the lake. I had a melody in my head which I had to vocalize. My sister joined in and we had a lightly harmonized version of "Homeward Bound."

Beyond the beautiful moment that existed on the dock, the lyrics struck a chord deep within me. Here are the lyrics for those who have never enjoyed the song before:

In the quiet misty morning when the moon has gone to bed,
When the sparrows stop their singing and the sky is clear and red.
When the summer’s ceased its gleaming,
When the corn is past its prime,
When adventure’s lost its meaning,
I’ll be homeward bound in time.
Bind me not to the pasture, chain me not to the plow.
Set me free to find my calling and I’ll return to you somehow.
If you find it’s me your missing, if you’re hoping I’ll return.
To your thoughts I’ll soon be list’ning, and in the road I’ll stop and turn.
Then the wind will set me racing as my journey nears its end.
And the path I’ll be retracing when I’m homeward bound again.
Bind me not to the pasture, chain me not to the plow.
Set me free to find my calling and I’ll return to you somehow.
In the quiet misty morning when the moon has gone to bed,
When the sparrows stop their singing, I’ll be homeward bound again.

"In the road I'll stop and turn." I don't really know what it feels like to return to someone. The road I've set my feet on doesn't seem to be leading my back to my family, but on the path to creating my own. As I have so many homes right now, I suppose that any path I set my feet on could be considered a path that is bound for home, or even a path to something that will eventually become home. As so many places are becoming my home, it is strange to realize that at my perfect cottage moment, with a rainbow and simple harmony, I felt a strong pull to be home with someone. A feeling that was both strange and scary for me. I have to admit it's a feeling I'm not used to. Perhaps it wasn't even a desire to be home, but a desire to have the people who make my house a home with me. I didn't even need everyone at that moment. Just one person.

It's hard to set your feet on the path for home. It's hard because sometimes you don't know where home is. At other times you can think you know where home is and then arrive and realize that home is no longer there, that the place your feet have brought you no longer has your heart. It's difficult to follow the shifting place of home especially when you don't realize until too late.

With home being such a flexible idea on earth it's comforting to remember that these are only homes we get for a time. From dust we have come and from dust we shall return. We may leave a legacy on earth of home and the ability to create home, but we don't get to stay with these homes. If we choose to set our feet only towards this idea of home we will eventually lose them and be disappointed. There is a path to set our feet on that will not lead to disappointment.

I remembered a saying as I was sprawling around the cottage. "Life is short. Heaven is home." While I'm on earth, I may have no clear sense of where my home is. I may have a large number of people calling me to be home with them. I may simply create home wherever I go. I can do all of these things while I'm here. But where I'm going, I know that I will have only one true home. And I'll be homeward bound at last.