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When an Exile Finds Home
By Rev. Youngsook Kang |
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From "Alive Now", March/April 2000, Volume 30, Number 2. Copyright 2000 by The Upper Room. Used by permission. |
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I OFTEN DREAM ABOUT the home where I grew up. This home was in Inchon, South Korea, close to Dok-Gab Bridge, under which a little stream flowed. What was special about that house that made it my home? Perhaps it was where I have most of my childhood memories. I remember Grandma He-Ja, who lived behind our back fence and came to our house practically every day. I remember the chickens and rabbits we raised in the backyard and the flowers, vegetables, and grapes we grew. As a first generation immigrant, a theme of my life is yearning for home. Home- such a positive word- often has become a sad word for me as I live as an immigrant here. When I think of home, I am reminded that I am homeless in the sense that my parents and family are so far away and that there is a big hole in my heart. The season of Lent, which is a season of wilderness, heightens this sense of homeliness and makes the hole in my heart even bigger. When I feel this big hole in my heart, I turn to scripture and identify with those who were seeking their homeland. The story of Abraham and Sarah comforts me in that I am not the only one who longs for home in the land that I left behind. My heart is warmed by the story of Joseph who welcomed his father and brothers with tears, but also with gladness to the land of Egypt. Joseph and his descendants were strangers in a foreign land. They were seeking a homeland, but their ultimate homecoming was the realization that what they longed for was a heavenly home (see Hebrews 11:16). My heart is strengthened by Ruth's homecoming story. Her journey "homeward" to Bethlehem with naomi takes her to a powerful place in herself. In spite of being a foreigner and a widow, she finds the strength to persevere, a strength that ultimately comes from God, and she becomes the grandmother of Israel's greatest king. Through the stories of Abraham and Sarah, Joseph, and Ruth, I realize that ultimately God is my home. When I go to Korea to visit, I recognize that there is something crucial missing, which makes me feel that I am in some sense a stranger and an exile there, too. If the place where my parents live is not my ultimate home, then where is my home? Well, there is a home that I can always return to. It's always there. It doesn't change- the same place and the same person. That's God. After all, home is where Christ is. Home is the realization that in the midst of exile, God is with us and for us and will never let us go. Home is finding light in the midst of darkness. Home is hope in the midst of dispair. Home is the discovery that life makes sense. Home is hope. Home is faith. Home is God.
| YOUNGSOOK KANG was senior pastor of First United Methodist Church, Golden, Colorado. She takes special interest in global missions and is currently Deputy Secretary for the UMC's General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) in New York. |
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From "Alive Now", March/April 2000, Volume 30, Number 2. Copyright 2000 by The Upper Room. Used by permission. Visit the Alive Now and The Upper Room web sites! Join the Live Web Chat for a discussion of Section 8- Home in God- in this issue of Alive Now on Tuesday, April 18th at 8:00-9:00 Eastern (6:00-7:00 Mountain) Time at The Upper Room Courtyard at http://www.upperroom.org/. |
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