Permanence

This weekend I started unpacking my books. This news came as a surprise to some of my close friends, one of whom even expressed that this seemed soon for me, since I've only been in my new apartment, a duplex, since July 2011. Her comment?

"You've lived like you were in temporary lodgings since I've known you."

I've known her since 1998. Which is fairly recent among my close friends. Unlike my residences, my close friends (the people I talk to, eat with, confide in on a regular basis) are quite long term. Of the five I see/talk to several times a month, I met them in 1998, 1995, 1992, 1989, and 1973.

Lodging is a different story. I DO tend to live out of boxes and have for more than 20 years. Settling is hard for me, and I always seem to be on the verge of bolting for another location. In my 55 years, I've moved 14 times, including 3 times between 2006 and 2011. Eight years is the longest I've stayed anywhere. Even people outside my life have noted that I seem to have a restless spirit and a nomadic desire.

And to be honest, as much as I like where I am now, I know I won't be here long. Since I hope to work at least another 15 years, I expect to move at least twice more. Unpacking seems to be an unnecessary risk.

I've had slightly better luck with churches. I've only changed churches six times, but I've been a "patchwork Protestant" most of my life, with a slight detour into Catholicism in the 1980s. I have a healthy respect for most variations on the Christian faith, as long as they are sincerely held. Below is my "home church" - Forrest Chapel UMC in Hartselle, Alabama - which I attended from 1959-1967 (yes, I'm old).

So I've lived my life knowing that everything in this world is temporary. Nothing lasts forever.

Except faith. When my parents started taking me to Forrect Chapel, I was two. I gave my life to Christ at nine. At twelve, I wanted to be a nun because nothing sounded so wonderful to me as giving my life to Him. (My mother had to break the news that Methodists don't have nuns.) I left the Church when I was 18 - and the next decade went through some serious experimentation and refinement (I still have friends who are Wiccan). God let me wander, and wander I did.

But He never abandoned me, and when I returned to the faith, He was waiting, almost as if He said, "OK, you wandered and you learned. Now it's time to work and use that knowledge." I've pretty much been a "nun" for Him ever since, just not behind thick walls.

And the major thing I learned? If you want permanence in your life, don't look around. Look UP.