Home is the "Consciousness of Good"

A year ago I left the flat in my home town where I’d lived for 25 years. Surrey is an expensive county, but I could afford the rent because it was a shared ownership property. I was fortunate to have quiet and considerate neighbours upstairs, until three years ago when a young couple moved in who were expecting their first baby.

For a while all was well, but suddenly, around five young people moved in too, probably sleeping on sofas or the floor. I trusted that it was a temporary arrangement, but as the months went by, it became very difficult because they were noisy, came in at all hours, and smoked incessantly right outside my front door. The smoke seeped into my flat and forced me to shut all the windows.

There were rows, physical fights, and I had to endure some extremely bad language. The crunch came one day when I was leaving for work. I opened my front door and one of the young men leaning on it and smoking fell into my hallway. The time had come to tackle the situation.

I knew that my home was heaven, harmony, and that nothing could interfere with my experience. I started to see my flat as not being bricks and mortar but an expression of tranquility, harmony, and peace. When tempted to feel discouraged I remembered the story about the Devil’s favourite tool being discouragement, and that it had no effect on a grateful heart. So every time the material picture was discordant I literally counted my blessings and said out loud: “Fear not, little flat, you are the expression of the Kingdom of God, good.” The unfoldment was the sudden exiting of all five tenants one weekend! Peace was restored and I was able to build a good relationship with my young neighbours.

But the story does not end there! My sister and I have been holidaying for three summers in East Wittering by the sea, where our parents retired to over 20 years ago. It was familiar, peaceful, and changeless. We rented a wonderful house by the beach, where our family could come and stay too. Last year we booked it again, but after several months we were told that the owner was thinking of selling. My pure gold sister had been holidaying with me because she knew I loved it so much, and her total unselfishness just glowed in my thought. I texted her about the situation, and within minutes she had found a perfect upstairs apartment right next door to that lovely house!

Then something amazing happened. She told me later that she had been quietly looking at the properties for sale or rent there and knew that I couldn’t afford any of them. She was just about to leave the website when, something made her finger press the ‘for sale’ button... and up popped what was to be my new little home! It was being marketed at a low figure, because the lease was shortening. I did some sums, and worked out that although money would be tight I could probably just make it.

I held to the thought that my home was where my consciousness of good was, my love for God, and simply took one step at a time. My flat sold on the very first day that it was being marketed. The young man who bought it was a cash buyer. So was I so. No mortgages were needed.

May I finish with a wonderful “whumph”? When the agent valued my flat he told me the figure we might expect to receive. It was exactly what I needed to clear the amount for the new flat. My purchaser was so keen to buy he offered me more than the asking price, so I had a little extra to spend on my new home. I celebrate my first anniversary in “Little Place” in May this year. And there is a perfect ending for my former neighbours with the baby. They have been able to buy a house for their growing family so their needs were also met.