JOE’S NOTEBOOK —- Home

I want you to feel at home.

If I try to describe what impact I want my words to have on those who read them, this is one way to express it: I want you to feel so welcomed to this place, so intertwined with all those you see around you, so comfortable in expressing yourself: that you would call it like being at home.

The deepest level of kinship we have is when we no longer feel like strangers in our own home, but like family in a place meant for us to share.

This is an ancient vision yet to be realized. The vision of a home. Relationships balanced into a life that excludes none and honors all.

Welcome home.

— Steven Charleston, a Native American elder, author, and retired Episcopal bishop of Alaska. Adjunct Professor of Native American Ministries, Saint Paul School of Theology at OCU, Citizen of Choctaw Nation. https://stevencharleston.com/