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Coming "home"

This is our third day in Goa. Coming "home" to the land of my birth is somehow compelling and always interesting. Childishly I want to come back to what I left and of course it is not the same.The things that have not changed (aka the things that I love!!)

  • Waking up to the sounds of the cawing of the crows, the cuckoo and the familiar horn of the poder (breadman), He does use a motorised bike now instead of a cycle but the horn is the same.
  • The familiar foliage of the sweet smelling champak, the mogra, the tulsi and the swaying coconut palms.
  • The sosegad (easy going, chill, lazy, happy go lucky, whatever...) Goan
  • The almost overwhelming hospitality of family and friends.
  • The constant unstoppable breaking of the waves on the beautiful shoreline of Goa. Reminds me of God speaking in Job 38:
    • Who shut up the sea behind doors ... when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place,  when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’
The things that have changed (aka the things that I do not like!!)
  • The culture - the very essence and hear of what it means to be a Goan. 
  • The crowds that come with enhanced tourism and the dirt and garbage that they leave behind. 
  • The crass materialism that seems to be an appendage to tourism and development. 
I am happy to be back ...of course but in many ways sad and nostalgic. These days I call Toronto my home and I love it. It is where I want to live and have made a choice to be and I believe where God meant me to be at this time. I am content till ...the call come to go back to Goa for a visit...

This morning I got to be seriously thinking of my permanent home. The book of Revelation in chapter 21 has a description, a foretaste of what it will look like. The foundations will be decorated with precious stones and the streets made of pure gold, Most of all it will be lit by the glory of God. nothing impure will enter it.
By the simple act of faith of accepting Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, I am guaranteed a place in this eternal home. With this hope firmly entrenched in my mind, I will go ahead and enjoy the rest of my stay here.

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