Ideas

Home

Quotations to stir heart and mind.

ONE OF the oldest of human needs is having someone to wonder where you are when you don’t come home at night.Margaret Mead

HOME IS the place where, when you have to go there, They have to take you in. I should have called it Something you somehow haven’t to deserve.Robert Frost, from “The Death of the Hired Man”

SOMEHOW each self needs a “place” in order to be a self, in order to feel on a deep level that it really exists. We are, apparently, rootless beings at bottom. Unless we can establish roots somewhere in a place where we are at home, which we possess to ourselves and where our things are, we feel that we float, that we are barely there at all.Langdon Gilkey, Shantung Compound

HOME has to do with where one senses one belongs, where one’s roots are, where one’s being can thrive. There is nothing worse than a feeling of homelessness—of not being able to find home.John Killinger, 365 Simple Gifts from God

REAL ESTATE ADS offer houses for sale, not homes. A house is a garment easily put off or on, casually bought and sold; a home is skin. Merely change houses and you will be disoriented; change homes and you bleed. When the shell you live in has taken on the savor of your love, when your dwelling has become a taproot, then your house is a home.Scott Russell Sanders, Staying Put

BECAUSE home will always be here … it is in your shoe wherever you go.Barbara Stafford-Wilson, at Graywolfpress.org

WHEN A MAN leaves home, he leaves behind some scrap of his heart.Frederick Buechner, Godric

WE SLEEP to time’s hurdy-gurdy; we wake, if we ever wake, to the silence of God. And then, when we wake to the deep shores of time uncreated, then when the dazzling dark breaks over the far slopes of time, then it’s time to toss things, like our reason, and our will; then it’s time to break our necks for home.Annie Dillard, Holy the Firm

WE CAN NEVER go home again. Nor can we ever forget or stop longing. Allen Wheelis, The Way We Are

A MAN TRAVELS the world over in search of what he needs, and returns home to find it.George Moore, The Brook Kerith

ALMIGHTY GOD, our heavenly Father, who settest the solitary in families: We commend to thy continual care the homes in which thy people dwell. … Turn the hearts of the parents to the children, and the hearts of the children to the parents; and so enkindle fervent charity among us all, that we may evermore be kindly affectioned to one another; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. The Book of Common Prayer

Copyright © 2008 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related elsewhere:

Previous Reflections columns are available on our site.

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

Our Latest

News

12 Christian Leaders Who Died in 2024

Remembering Tony Campolo, Jürgen Moltmann, Paul Pressler, and others.

News

20 Stories About a Vibrant Global Church

Mennonites thriving in Paraguay, architecturally stunning church buildings in China, and persistent faith amid Haiti’s pervasive gang violence.

The Bulletin’s Favorite Conversations of 2024

In a tempest-tossed political and cultural season, these episodes anchored us.

Christianity Today’s 10 Most Read Asia Stories of 2024

Tightening restrictions on Indian Christians, the testimony of a president’s daughter, and thoughts on when pastors should retire.

News

13 Stories from the Greater Middle East and Africa From 2024

Covering tragedy, controversy, and culinary signs of hope, here is a chronological survey of Christian news from the region.

CT’s Best Ideas of 2024

A selection of 15 of our most intriguing, delightful, and thought-provoking articles on theology, politics, culture, and more.

Big CT Stories of 2024

Ten of our most-read articles this year.

CT’s Most Memorable Print Pieces from 2024

We hope these articles will delight you anew—whether you thumb through your stack of CT print magazines or revisit each online.

Apple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squareGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastRSSRSSSaveSaveSaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube