A secure home

The U.S. housing market has seen some shake-ups lately, based largely on high-risk subprime and adjustable-rate loans going bad. No one knows for sure how that will affect the economy as a whole or how long the pattern will last. What we do know is that a lot of hard-working families are losing their homes.

Knowing that a family's house is going into foreclosure hits hard in the hearts of all of us.

I can remember a time when it seemed impossible that I would ever own property, much less hang onto it. The bills kept rolling in, some regular and some unexpected. I had a little girl, and I hoped to make a better life for her.

Even though I couldn't see how that would happen, I prayed often about the situation. As I studied the Bible and the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, I began to focus less on the specifics and location of a building and more on what the idea of home meant to me.

To me it included the qualities of fellowship, kindness, and integrity. I made a special effort to acknowledge those qualities when I saw them appear in my life and to express them myself as well. In doing so, I was drawing closer to God and opening the door to more constant recognition of His goodness.

The Bible states, "Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established" (Prov. 24:3). With my prayer, I strengthened my spiritual understanding and set my life on the foundation of God's care.

I've found true refuge in a spiritual understanding of home. When we shut our eyes, we can't see the walls or the furniture around us. Yet we know intuitively what a home represents – comfort, security, contentment. These are spiritual qualities coming directly into our lives from God. They are permanent and not subject to repossession by a bank or anyone else.

Mary Baker Eddy, who founded Christian Science, wrote, "The understanding, even in a degree, of the divine All-power destroys fear, and plants the feet in the true path, – the path which leads to the house built without hands 'eternal in the heavens' " ("Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," p. 454).

Divine Love makes that progress possible. God loves us and never loses sight of any of His children. As this truth becomes clearer, it becomes visible in daily life in many practical ways.

Soon I owned a townhouse and was able to keep up with the costs. Most important, I had gained a higher view of the spiritual nature of home.

This kind of dwelling – an inner God-given peace and security that last forever – is available to everyone. It doesn't fluctuate with the market or lose value. It's the place to start when we're looking for answers to housing, and it offers a solution that will endure for eternity.

The rain descended,
and the floods came,
and the winds blew,
and beat upon that house;
and it fell not:
for it was founded
upon a rock.

Matthew 7:25