Week of 3 Epiphany, Wednesday

Your statutes have been like songs to me
     wherever I haved lived as a stranger.

About a year ago, my wife and I bought a second home in Appleton, my 18th house in 42 years -- the result of growing up in an Episcopal priest's family and moving from congregation to congregation, and then of getting used to moving!

Here's my itinerary so far:

Winter Haven, FL
Auburndale, FL - 2 houses
Unadilla, NY
Latham, NY
Copperstown, NY
Charleston, IL
Eastern Illinois University - 4 dorm rooms
Park Ridge, IL - 2 apartments
Lake Geneva, WI - 1 apartment, 1 house
Chicago, IL - 1 apartment
Walworth, WI
Appleton, WI

My current job also makes me a professional "stranger," as I am on the road nearly full-time. According to Delta, I flew 95,000 miles last year, and according to Hilton, I stayed with them 82 times at 57 different hotels last year.

At dinner with a friend in Atlanta two weeks ago, I described my travel routine as monastic. Not only have I pared down my wardrobe and packing to a (not really) ascetic minimum, but I have also found it easier to continue the practice of saying the Daily Office on the road than when I was home more often. The Office helps to give my constant motion a sense of routine and consistency, and the "songs" -- the canticles and Psalms especially -- almost sing themselves from familiarity.

Your statutes have been like songs to me
     wherever I haved lived as a stranger.

You may not have moved quite so often -- though some of you may have moved many more times -- but what gives you stability among the "changes and chances of this life"? What helps you to make home from whatever place you're in right now?