Welcome to His House,
A parable of spiritual intimacy,
Written by me,
Judy Boozer.
This story is a parable,
A spiritual journey told through metaphor,
Inviting you beyond information and into experience.
Now before we begin,
I want to share a brief note about language.
Throughout His House,
God is presented using masculine pronouns.
This isn't because I believe God is male,
But because as a woman I wanted to capture the experience of intimacy with a being whose thought process and essence felt entirely different from my own.
To do that,
I chose the other side of the human duality,
Masculinity,
To represent the divine within this story.
My hope is that regardless of gender,
You hear beyond the words,
Into the relationship,
The longing,
And the love that the story reveals.
Each chapter opens a window into the soul's walk toward the divine,
A walk that moves through symbols,
Emotions,
And revelation.
This chapter includes a gentle and comforting reflection on death and transition,
Portrayed not as an ending,
But as a continuation of love's journey.
To fully enter this journey,
It helps to begin not with the mind,
But with the heart.
These moments aren't meant to be hurried or analyzed,
They're meant to be felt.
So before we begin chapter 12,
Home,
We'll take a few quiet moments together to slow down,
Breathe,
And become present,
Body,
Mind,
And spirit,
So that you can experience the story rather than simply hear it.
Take a slow breath in through your nose,
And release it gently through your mouth.
Let your shoulders soften.
Let your jaw unclench.
Let the pace of your day begin to fall away.
Feel the support beneath you,
The ground,
The chair,
Or the earth.
You are safe here.
You are held.
Another slow,
Deep breath in,
And out.
With each breath,
Let your awareness move closer to this moment,
Closer to stillness.
Nothing to prove,
Nothing to produce,
Just this space to be.
Now imagine yourself standing on a quiet path.
The air around you is calm,
Almost expectant.
Somewhere ahead there's a soft light,
A glow you can't quite see clearly yet,
But it calls to something deep within you.
This light,
This call,
Is the beginning of your journey to his house.
Breathe deeply again,
And as you do,
Let go of whatever might distract you,
The noise,
The planning,
The worries,
And the waiting.
Let them rest beside the path for now.
Whisper inwardly,
I am here.
I am listening.
I am ready.
Stay with that readiness for one more slow,
Deep breath.
Now gently,
Let's begin our final chapter,
Chapter 12,
Home.
The night was cold as I sat on the platform where,
So long ago,
That original sign had been.
It was the only time of the day when I had quiet.
It had been many years since I first stepped onto the platform to act as the new sign,
And even more years since I'd first come seeking God's house.
My eyelids felt so heavy,
And my head sank slowly to my chest.
Suddenly,
The atmosphere changed,
And I was wide awake.
I looked around and saw him standing at the crossroads.
I jumped to my feet and ran to him without even thinking.
He smiled and opened his arms to me.
It was the first time I remembered him doing that.
I ran into his embrace.
It's so good to see you,
My dear friend,
I said.
Where are we going today?
Is it another trip through the Valley of the Shadow of Death?
He smiled broadly.
It's time for you to come home.
Home?
What do you mean?
Right now?
I mean,
I can leave for a little while.
I feel like we're making some real progress here.
More people have been coming through asking questions,
And there have been lots of great discussions lately.
In fact,
One of the travelers has been following me everywhere.
I feel like she's almost ready to make the journey herself.
Where is she now?
He asked.
I turned around to point her out and stopped short.
Oh!
I breathed.
I saw my body still on the platform where the sign had stood so long ago.
With my chin resting on my chest,
It almost looked like I was asleep.
My eyes filled with tears.
I thought it would hurt more.
I've always heard that there are regrets,
That your life flashes before your eyes,
But this didn't hurt at all.
Are you sure it's true?
I mean,
Am I really?
He smiled at me patiently.
When you live a life of dying to yourself,
The final journey is easy.
The only difference is that this time,
You won't return to your body,
But you were never your body.
Most people never understand that truly living depends on truly dying.
But I still had so much to do,
I said with a tinge of longing.
He put his arm around my shoulders.
Those are for someone else to complete.
It was given to you to build a new foundation upon which others would continue to build.
You've done your part,
And now it's time to let them do theirs.
Life isn't an event,
It's a continuum.
For you,
It's time to come home.
It's time to awaken.
I nodded in agreement and understanding.
Besides,
He continued,
It looks like you've already passed your mantle on to someone.
He nodded in the direction where my body sat.
Beside the platform,
The small shape of a young woman lay sleeping,
Covered in my long wool coat.
My eyes filled with tears again.
She's the one I was telling you about.
She showed up one day and just never left.
She started following me around,
Then eating every meal with me,
Then decided she wanted to fix the meals for me,
And asking a million questions.
She went through a lot to get here,
And I'm happy to have known her.
I think you're going to like her when she decides to take the path to your house.
I already do.
And don't worry about this young one,
He said,
Turning back toward his house and stepping down the path.
She'll make the journey to my house before the sun sets today.
He reached his hand out to me.
Are you ready to go home?
I am,
I said as I took his hand and laced my fingers with his.
Then let's go home,
He said.
And we did.
Every journey of awakening begins with longing,
And ends in remembering.
The path that once felt so long and uncertain eventually leads us right back to where we started.
To love.
To home.
To the divine we never truly left.
As you breathe,
Let yourself rest in that knowing.
You don't have to strive or seek or prove.
Love has already found you,
And the journey was always about realizing that you were never apart.
What does home mean to you?
Not as a place,
But as a feeling of union with love.
In what ways have you already been returning home to your true self?
Who or what might you be called to pass your mantle to?
A teaching,
A truth,
Or a way of being that continues beyond you?
What would it feel like to release striving and simply be at home in love?
The path home isn't a destination,
It's a remembering,
A dissolving of every illusion of separation.
And when love finally takes your hand,
You realize it's the same hand that guided you all along.
You were never lost.
You were always on your way home.
