The Common Ground

Isaiah 28:16 

“So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.”

The last two years of my life have been played out in two different worlds. I live full time in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, but I am still very much a Kentucky girl.

I love Haitian spaghetti… But I still crave biscuits and gravy on occasion.

I love exploring the cities in Haiti, but I miss the wide open spaces on my grandparents’ farm.

I appreciate the sounds of a Haitian morning, but I miss the quiet and stillness of a morning in my parents’ home.

I love the culture and new friends I’ve made in Haiti…. And yet I still miss the familiar found in the seemingly insignificant daily moments in the place I come from.

And as true as this is, the opposite is just as true when I’m visiting Kentucky. I never feel quite at home in America now. I always feel slightly out of place and slightly out of the loop. Something is always a little off the mark. Just as I miss my American home while I am in Haiti, I miss my new home while I am in America. This tension – this constant feeling of not belonging – is part of my life. The longer I live in Haiti, the more my mannerisms and daily processes look a little more Haitian and a little less American.  But, I will never be a Haitian. No matter how much spaghetti I eat, how great my Creole becomes, or how confident I become in living my life in this country, I will always be an American. I no longer fully fit in as an American, and I will never fully fit in here in Haiti. This sense of not belonging has left me searching for “home”, for a place where my two worlds collide in harmony; a place of peace.

I share this with you today because I know many of us are feeling this sense of not belonging. Right now, it seems as if the world sees everything in black or white. From political parties to interpersonal conflict, we are urged and pressed to choose a side and only one side. And while this isn’t the same as finding belonging in a physical location, the principal remains… Many of us don’t solely fit into one category, label, or even just one side of an argument. Our heart longs for a place somewhere in the middle – a place of harmony and restoration, a place of truth; a common ground.

As I read through Isaiah 28, I love the response that the Lord offers for the evil leaders of the time. As they boast in rooting their identity and sense of “home” in lies and death, the Lord tells of the firm and righteous cornerstone He has laid for us – He tells us of Jesus. He tells us of the peace and hope found in Him for those who choose to rely on Him. 

I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m not truly at home in this world. And for those of you reading this that follow Jesus, the same is true for you. You are not at home in this world. The feeling you have of not belonging, while painful, is normal. You don’t belong here, for you are part of a great kingdom. Your home was forged through blood shed for your freedom. It is found in the wounds on His feet and hands, in the tears He shed on our behalf, and in the Word He left for us. We catch glimpses of this home in our moments of fellowship – when we break bread together, share laughs, and share in sorrows.

Yes, we are homesick. We are homesick for a common ground laid on the Cornerstone of truth. But praise God we have a home and family far beyond what we are experiencing today.   

Father, may we remember that our home is found in Your presence. Remind us that You are our peace, comfort, and joy. In this season where our homelessness feels more evident, remind us that You died that we may know a perfect and eternal home. May we we cling to this truth today.