|
|
|
|
|  |
Michael Fox CPCC,
founder of m�agine!,
is a professional
coach and trainer,
author and creative artist, whose work has been featured throughout
the world.
|
|
|
Home is where my heart is. I'm returning home from a conference in Chicago, a tad homesick. I can't wait until I am...
Safe at home.
Ah, another pesky baseball metaphor. Baseball's home plate--actually referred to as "home base" in the rulebook--was originally shaped like the other three bases. It was embedded in the ground and positioned with one corner pointed toward the pitcher's mound. Prior to the 1900 season, baseball owners changed the shape of home plate to the now-familiar pentagon. The shape was ostensibly changed to give umpires a better view of the base to distinguish balls and strikes. It appears to have been mere "serendipity"--or, as I prefer to think of it, "provendipity"--that the new pentagon resembled a child's silhouette drawing of home.
Safe at home.
Thirty-three years ago nearly to this day--fresh out of school--I moved from southern California to northeastern Louisiana to continue my education. I love Louisiana, and to this day it remains my home away from home. In those years in Lousiana, however, I was homesick. And there was no email for instant messaging or Skype for video conferencing; and long distance phone calls were expensive and reserved for sharing bad news. "Snail mail" was most often the only practical way to keep in touch with my distant family and friends.
One Thursday evening in March, way back then, I was alone at the home of R.C. and Julie Bee Reed, my hosts in those days. Oh, I was homesick--almost breathlessly so. I summoned my determination and called upon my creativity to deal with my heart's crisis. I sat down in front of the television and began work on a homemade advent-style calendar that would allow me to count down the days until my scheduled return home to California. Ironically, that night in March, my anticipated homecoming was exactly one hundred days away. One hundred days: three digits. Compounded loneliness and desperation.
As I worked on my calendar, The Waltons came on television.
(I told you it was a long time ago.)
It wasn't long before the evening's episode captured my attention. You see, the family's mother, lovely Olivia Walton, was homesick, devastatingly homesick for her deceased parents and childhood home. I was in awe of the relevance of the episode's storyline to my personal longing for home. Throughout the show, Olivia's sorrow deepened. Neither family nor friends could understand the depth of her emotions. I'm watching and thinking, "That's right! Others don't get it. Just me and Olivia." Olivia even visited the ruins of her childhood home and--her countenance and posture betraying her heartbreaking melancholy--sat in the old tire swing that remained suspended from a large tree since childhood.
By now, I am enthralled. I have convinced myself that God has intruded into CBS's prime time programming to send me a personal message of healing and encouragement. Why, the name of the actress who plays Olivia Walton is Michael Learned. Television's version of venerable "Walton's Mountain" was not in Virginia, but was within view of my house back home in Burbank. Could the providential points of convergence be any more obvious? I moved closer to the television. I put paper and pen down. I reasoned, "I'll wait and see how Olivia deals with her homesickness, and I'll follow her lead. This is perfect!" The episode continued, and the source of Olivia's depression was diagnosed at hour's end by her physician...
Menopause.
Well, that was disappointing. It did, however, make me feel so silly that I laughed at myself for the remainder of the evening. I'm convinced God has a sense of humor.
So back to baseball...This beloved game of mine is all about leaving home, gallantly seeking adventure on the base paths, and ultimately, triumphantly, returning home, reconciled, to the embrace of family. Sometimes, however, the adventure calls for us to spend a little time on the distant Horn of Second Base, longingly, lovingly, anticipating the moment when we once more are...
Safe
at home.
What is "safe at home" for you? What does it look like?
How do you honor "home"? Or not?
How do you know when you are "away from home"?
Who would you have to be to "come home"?
Is there a physical structure in your life--like baseball in mine--
that captures or reflects the value of "home"? How so?
|
|
Michael Fox
m�agine!
530/613.2774
P.O. Box 9144
Auburn, CA, USA 95604
|
|
|
In addition to personal and professional coaching,
m�agine! specializes in spiritual transformation coaching,
employing its proprietary models: Values, Vision, Voice and Heart, Soul, Mind & Strength.
Michael's books include Complete in Christ,
Complete in Christ Spiritual Transformation Workbook, and Biblio�files.
Coaching fees are based upon a sliding scale. Contact us for details.
Limited scholarships are available for spiritual transformation coaching.
On the flip side, if you are able, please inquire about opportunities
to fund scholarships for those who cannot afford coaching fees.
View our archives!
|
|
|
|
|
|
