a place is just a place?

stumbled upon a couple songs on this album a few weeks ago.  this weekend, it occurred me to listen to the rest of it.
and, purchased.
listening on a loop.
multi-layered.  epic sounds. 80s reminiscent.
good.
if you feel so inclined, you might take a listen.








why do I love london so deeply?

yes, it for the red postboxes, the centrality of public transport, the accents which abound...
these lovelies (and a million more) most definitely endear, but at the heart of this affection, you will find that all these tangibles actually serve to provide the context and setting for a formative time in my life that can hardly be explained.
in the confines of the years I spent with a UK address, I lived life fully.
in a john 10.10 type of way, I experienced full on, utterly awake, transparent engagement in daily awareness.
not every day, of course.
after all, 'wherever you go, you take yourself with you'.
as someone who connects, relates, and lives deeply within her context, place is pretty important to me.  especially as I live life on my own, in a state of singleness.
and as I possess a fair amount of introversion.

so, a struggle will always exist, I suppose to find my niche.  (I think we all search, to some degree.)
I learned years ago that my home (where I lay my head at night) is of key importance in my quest for health.  if said home base is uneasy or unclear in regard to safety and cozy, my spirit struggles to rest.  home in flux can only exist for a short period of time.
in all my travels, I have also learned to create "home" wherever I am.
so, if these previous sentences lead you to feelings of sadness on my behalf, there is no need.
I comment on 'place' as a processing of words, the title of this post, I have spoken to others and over the past year have said to myself many, many times to help soothe the loss I feel from my most recent change of zip code.
(boston sits companionably near to london on my list of homes.)

I'm not sure.
not AT all. (spoken in jude law accent.)
is a place just a place?
at my core, I believe people are of the most importance.
yes, yes, I do.
as someone who has lived many places and made connections (real, life, heart friend sort of connections) in each of those places, deciding where to create home can be pretty daunting.
having numerous options of location can send me into a sort of paralysis.

acts 17.26-28...

"from one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set of them and the exact places where they should live.  

God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.  

'for in him we live and move and have our being'..."

so looking for open and closed doors has become my mode of operation.
listening.
praying I can live in the present and breathe.
how do you define home when you are able to find it so many places?

I'm not sure.
and, I suppose in some ways, that is the point.
trust (belief in the reliability, truth, strength of)
and faith ("sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." hebrews 11.1).
and both require...
choice.
daily.
a.
daily.
choice.

and, the ultimate, overarching beauty that I am always led back to believing...

john 15.4, 15; 16.33...

"remain in me, and I will remain in you."

"I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business.  instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you."

"I have told you these things, so that you may have peace. in this world you will have trouble.  

but take heart!

I have overcome the world." 

recently, through a new friend, I have been reminded of how
soulful truth encourages my spirit.
how funny and sweet is the Lord in how he brings into my sphere people who,
simply by being themselves,
point me toward and remind me of
who I am,
what I want to be about, and
what I love.
press play...

happy weekend,

kb.