The little people of the Shire have some great wisdom. They grow gardens, enjoy food, and are quite content minding their own business in peasant life. 'Home', they call it. Peek-a-boo houses with round doors and rustic fences, never meant to keep anyone out, but only to support the trellis of vines and grasses.
It sounds idealistic. Yet, their way of life is a basic need of all humanity, a place to call home.
This is our first week of the summer without tight deadlines or packed responsibilities. As I am finally motivated to attend to matters of home, the garden shows my negligence. Dried up spinach, along with beets, struggle to survive. The peas would be tall if I had strung them up. Instead they are laying across the ground, but still graciously persistent about producing their pods. Even my tomatoes are slow.
It takes time to grow a garden. You have to be present.
One of my struggles as a 'stay at home mom', is to stay home. Establishing a place of routine is important for the sanity and well-being of all members of the family. But if I am never home, the base becomes ruffled, unkempt, and unsettled.
"Oh, anyone can do that sort of work," we say. But it is a challenge, because consistency and faithfulness cannot be cooked in a microwave.
When that little hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, nears the end of his adventure, he is tempted to avoid the struggle and return to the life he knows. Yet, in remembering the stability of his own home, he realizes a calling beyond himself.
"You dwarfs have no home, no gardens, no peasant life," Bilbo declares with great sympathy, "and so I will help you reclaim your home." I recently watched the movie, The Hobbit, (by J.R.R. Tolkien), for the first time, and coming to this part, I almost had to laugh. It is so simple, yet so profound! Everyone needs a place built by daily routine that is truly home.
I know I am late for the season, but I think I will go out and plant my green beans now, because working the soil does something for the soul. Watching plants grow encourages the heart, and says, "Yes, there is fruit to the settling in of daily life, of consistency and faithfulness."
Most of all, it matters, for when activity rules, home is stolen, often unaware, and we are left empty.
God requires faithfulness, and this must be one reason why, because He is building for us an eternal home . . . and also building us, one day at a time, to be fit for it. Looking forward to the day He returns to receive us to Himself!
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