domestic bliss anyone?

i've been mulling somewhat
 over what angle to take
as I look into the prospects for  the theology of the home


should I start with the physical structure?
perhaps articulate the vast variety of structures
understood and used as homes
 by people and animals in the world?


the papal encyclicals on family and social justice
including the most recent plea from rome
concerning the health of the planet we all share
generally refer to the world as our shared home
and theologically speaking there is this
commonly pronounced idea of all of us
ending up in the heavenly home of god
so home carries some definite symbolic weight as well


the notion of heaven as a shared banquet in a loving home
is the predominant image of the hearts'  most familiar yearning


should I then merely speak of home in symbolic terms


it is current to speak of personal experience
as  a judging factor for observing sociological phenomena
even the critical theory school dictates the subjective experience
as the working context for social judgement


so I will begin with an experience


a few weeks ago I happened upon a fiesta de la guatemaltecos
it was a birthday party for a 7 year old girl
the Guatemalans reside in strong communities of
shared apartments or trailer courts
and they live simply
yet they sustain one another and within that there are riches
so I could smell carne asada on the grill
I could take in aromas of frijoles and arroz
salad and sauces were imposing themselves on my olfactory awareness
with no little confidence
I was invited into this fairly small apartment
and the party was in full swing
food was being served and people were sitting in shifts
at the flimsy table...the altar of sorts
at the climax of the party I counted 33 people
all of whom were quite at ease being together
and this offered a wonderful opportunity for me to feel
quite at ease amid strangers
I sat there with my plate of food amid the loving containment
of human complexity and pondered the reality of home:
the women were at the stove and the sink and serving things
around the room
el hombre de casa was making sure that plenty of carne asada was on hand
people were drinking beer


as far as I could tell the attitude was;
this is a good enough excuse to be amongst one another
to honor together our families our children
and one gringo guest


I have been thinking about this for more than a week now:
how home became a gratuitous offering of charity and sustenance
and joy abounded in the room
everyone seemed perfectly happy to be there
and the children were in their element with gags and hats and whistles
and ribbons and balloons and a big ole birthday cake
the liturgical aspect of the evening came when the young girl
was obligated to smash her face into the frosting after blowing out one candle


this seemed to produce an excess of camera activity


the symbolic gesture spoke to me
for in its odd way it suggested that
life is sort of ridiculous and our happiness shared with one another
even to the point of graphic silliness
is all we have
with which to brace ourselves
against the harshness offered by the world outside


the warm sincerity of all the people with whom I shook hands
spoke to me of the universal quality of the necessity of home
all diplomacy should be relegated to homes it seems


it became apparent to me that home can be  a small apartment with
30 happy people sharing food and life together
and for the people who actually live there
the evening is expressive of the vitality of their humble existence
they were more than willing to invest in the possibility of  happiness


it seems to me now that that is something fundamental
to any discussion of the theology of the home


--  a place where people are willing to invest earnestly in the possibility of happiness  --










what other topics of home must I explore?














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