"Take Me Home Country Roads!"

John Denver, the horn-rimmed glasses wearing folk singer from Colorado, made his name composing and singing songs about "home." Such songs as "Rocky Mountain High" and "Take Me Home Country Roads" were among his signature renderings. Of course, being a West Virginia (I still bleed blue and gold during football season!), I am a bit partial to the latter song. "Country Roads" is not the state song of the Mountain state ("Oh, Those West Virginia Hills" is the official song), but it has become the most accepted song for the folk up home.

There are not many days as I am out and about here in Williamsburg that someone doesn't ask, "Where you from?" It is a pretty safe question around here because it seems that most of our townspeople are from "some place else!" When I tell them of my roots, I usually get the ancient comments: "Well, you must be one of thos hillbillies that doesn't walk with a limp from standing on the side of a mountain!" Or, the ever popular, "How old were you before you had your first pair of shoes?" I always grin and tell folk that I never lived on the side of a mountain and I got my first pair of shoes when I learned to walk!

"Home" is a pretty neat word, isn't it? We say things like, "Home is where the heart is!" Or, "Home Sweet Home!" And, "There's no place quite like home!" All of those are profound truths IF those are the memories one has of home. However, not everyone can look back on a childhood of pleasant times! "Home" to some conjures up thoughts about abuse, poverty, absentee parents, neglect, and abandonment! That's hard, folk, real hard!

It makes it pretty difficult to convince someone that they want to go to "home and be with God" someday when "home" is not their source of happiness and joy! It's like trying to describe the love of God as the love of a father! What if one's experience of "fatherhood" has been very, very unpleasant? When "home" is a place you could not wait to leave and "father" was the reason you needed to run, our efforts at sharing the eternal joy with God become more difficult!

Try to understand the reluctance of some to jump for joy about something that is so joyous to many! It will do you and them a lot of good if you will try to understand!