There’s is no place like Home!

About six months ago, I came to Kansas to serve as Pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church somewhat near Lincoln or Westfall, Kansas. Of this experience Dr. C. F. W Walther apply writes in his twentieth evening lecture (February 27, 1885.)

“When a place has been assigned to a Lutheran candidate of theology where he is to discharge the office of a Lutheran minister, that place ought to be to him the dearest, most beautiful, and most precious spot on earth. He should be unwilling to exchange it for a kingdom. Whether it is in a metropolis or in a small town, on a bleak prairie or in a clearing in the forest, in a flourishing settlement or in a desert, to him it should be a miniature paradise.”

These sentiments certainly have taken on wonderful meaning for me these last couple months since arriving in Kansas. This last week, I traveled back for the first time to the seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana since becoming a pastor. Spending a wonderful week attending the annual theological symposium was certainly enriching and special but what caught me off guard was the feeling that I had when finally I made it back to my house on the prairie. Oh how I felt that I had made it home, here it reminds me of what Dorothy says of Kansas in her last line….”Oh, but anyway, Toto, we’re home – home! And this is my room – and you’re all here – and I’m not going to leave here ever, ever again, because I love you all! And… oh, Auntie Em, there’s no place like home!” Truly a miniature paradise that I am blessed to be able to call home!
P.S. Picture taken from my driveway!