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The Longing for Home: Recollections and Reflections
In this deeply moving book of reflection and recollection, Frederick Buechner once again draws us into his deeply textured life and experience to illuminate our own understanding of home as both our place of origin and our ultimate destination. For Frederick Buechner, the meaning of home is the home we remember and the home we dream. As a word, it not only recalls the place that we grew up in and that had much to do with the people we eventually became, but also points ahead to the home that, in faith, we believe awaits us at life's end. Writing at the approach of his seventieth birthday, he describes, both in prose and in a group of poems, the one particular house that was most precious to him as a child, the books he read there, and the people he loved there. He speaks also of the lifelong search we are all engaged in to make a new home for ourselves and for our families, which is at the same time a search to find something like the wholeness and comfort of home with ourselves. As he turns his attention to our dreams of the heavenly home still to come, he sees it as both hallowing and fulfilling the charity and the peach of our original home. Writing with warmth, wisdom, and compelling eloquence, Frederick Buechner once again enables us to see more deeply into the secret places of our hearts. The Longing for Home will help to bring clarity and guidance to anyone who searches for meaning in a world that all too often seems meaningless.
180 pages, Hardcover
First published July 4, 1996
100 people are currently reading
618 people want to read
About the author
Frederick Buechner
92 books1,229 followersFrederick Buechner is a highly influential writer and theologian who has won awards for his poetry, short stories, novels and theological writings. His work pioneered the genre of spiritual memoir, laying the groundwork for writers such as Anne Lamott, Rob Bell and Lauren Winner.
His first book, A Long Day's Dying, was published to acclaim just two years after he graduated from Princeton. He entered Union Theological Seminary in 1954 where he studied under renowned theologians that included Reinhold Niebuhr, Paul Tillich, and James Muilenberg. In 1955, his short story "The Tiger" which had been published in the New Yorker won the O. Henry Prize.
After seminary he spent nine years at Phillips Exeter Academy, establishing a religion department and teaching courses in both religion and English. Among his students was the future author, John Irving. In 1969 he gave the Noble Lectures at Harvard. He presented a theological autobiography on a day in his life, which was published as The Alphabet of Grace.
In the years that followed he began publishing more novels, including the Pulitzer Prize finalist Godric. At the same time, he was also writing a series of spiritual autobiographies. A central theme in his theological writing is looking for God in the everyday, listening and paying attention, to hear God speak to people through their personal lives.
His first book, A Long Day's Dying, was published to acclaim just two years after he graduated from Princeton. He entered Union Theological Seminary in 1954 where he studied under renowned theologians that included Reinhold Niebuhr, Paul Tillich, and James Muilenberg. In 1955, his short story "The Tiger" which had been published in the New Yorker won the O. Henry Prize.
After seminary he spent nine years at Phillips Exeter Academy, establishing a religion department and teaching courses in both religion and English. Among his students was the future author, John Irving. In 1969 he gave the Noble Lectures at Harvard. He presented a theological autobiography on a day in his life, which was published as The Alphabet of Grace.
In the years that followed he began publishing more novels, including the Pulitzer Prize finalist Godric. At the same time, he was also writing a series of spiritual autobiographies. A central theme in his theological writing is looking for God in the everyday, listening and paying attention, to hear God speak to people through their personal lives.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
May 4, 2025
No longer at home here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I would be glad of another death.
T.S. Eliot
There is an upside to my bipolar past, and this is it: I rarely stay in one phase of it - the upside or downside of it - for long.
Or, more correctly - not long enough to be truly manic - or suicidal.
In a sense, then, I have no home here.
That is truly a blessing. For my meds correct the imbalance in my bloodstream between the good and the bad.
And you can be darned sure Buechner, an ordained Presbyterian minister while still with us, counted that selfsame blessing at night with all us others - like sheep - for a deeper sleep.
As a kid, his life was Screamingly Absurd.
The metaphor is not inappropriate. His father committed suicide. Read this wonderfully, acutely realist collection of essays on the journey to self-reintegration and you'll see its shadow throughout.
You'll fidget frantically in your Lazyboy; you'll yearn for a beer; you'll even want to take a long, long walk far away from this book to escape its whirlpool into nothingness.
And I wouldn't blame you a bit.
For This Is bleak. To understand it, though, we have to leave behind the faux-postmodernist furnishings of our current cozy Pax Americana mindset. We must perch on the ultimate edge of our sophisticated tolerance.
We must take a Journey to the End of the Night, like Jim Morrison!
But, fear not: Buechner's well-chosen words never carom out of control and sink his careening cue ball: nor does he lose his faith in a loving God (throughout the dog's breakfast with which he regales us).
And if you can sit through its latent horror gallery -
Here ever so adroitly and securely (in its radical sense of personal reintegration) skimmed over -
You will be refreshed by an incredible New Vista of Hope beyond Despair:
Far, Far Beyond our current misinformational Global Darkness -
A vista of plain, old-fashioned ethical common sense.
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I would be glad of another death.
T.S. Eliot
There is an upside to my bipolar past, and this is it: I rarely stay in one phase of it - the upside or downside of it - for long.
Or, more correctly - not long enough to be truly manic - or suicidal.
In a sense, then, I have no home here.
That is truly a blessing. For my meds correct the imbalance in my bloodstream between the good and the bad.
And you can be darned sure Buechner, an ordained Presbyterian minister while still with us, counted that selfsame blessing at night with all us others - like sheep - for a deeper sleep.
As a kid, his life was Screamingly Absurd.
The metaphor is not inappropriate. His father committed suicide. Read this wonderfully, acutely realist collection of essays on the journey to self-reintegration and you'll see its shadow throughout.
You'll fidget frantically in your Lazyboy; you'll yearn for a beer; you'll even want to take a long, long walk far away from this book to escape its whirlpool into nothingness.
And I wouldn't blame you a bit.
For This Is bleak. To understand it, though, we have to leave behind the faux-postmodernist furnishings of our current cozy Pax Americana mindset. We must perch on the ultimate edge of our sophisticated tolerance.
We must take a Journey to the End of the Night, like Jim Morrison!
But, fear not: Buechner's well-chosen words never carom out of control and sink his careening cue ball: nor does he lose his faith in a loving God (throughout the dog's breakfast with which he regales us).
And if you can sit through its latent horror gallery -
Here ever so adroitly and securely (in its radical sense of personal reintegration) skimmed over -
You will be refreshed by an incredible New Vista of Hope beyond Despair:
Far, Far Beyond our current misinformational Global Darkness -
A vista of plain, old-fashioned ethical common sense.
February 16, 2017
I abandoned this book after reading about 50 percent. I found the first chapter to be quite moving as it spoke generally of concepts and experiences of home. However, the remainder (that I read) seemed rather simplistic, given the horrific experiences that were being recalled, and lacking in depth. It seems to me that the word "reflections" (in the title) is a bit misleading. These are memories but there is very little reflection on those memories, and nothing that I could extract which would help me to reflect on my own experiences of and longing for "home".
I must add that this is a very personal response to a very personal book. I realize (from the other reviews) that it has been very helpful and inspirational for many people but it is just not my kind of book.
I must add that this is a very personal response to a very personal book. I realize (from the other reviews) that it has been very helpful and inspirational for many people but it is just not my kind of book.
April 11, 2016
Let's just get it out there early and say that Buechner is one of my all time favorite authors. I don't really like reading too many Christian-types these days but that's because they don't write like Buechner... In my opinion he falls pretty squarely into the (sparsely populated) camp of Christian Mysticism, where faith and doubt walk hand in hand, and the stories of the Bible crash up pretty hard against the harsh reality of every day living. He has a beautiful way of airing out his own inadequacy while still managing to hold on to hope, something I greatly admire about him.
Anyway, with all that said, this is not one of his best books. I think it's about as close as he'll get to writing an autobiography, and many of his stories are deeply personal and deal with terrible loss and regret, but the first half is also rather disjointed and not at all what I had expected. All in all, I'm glad to have read through it, glad to have another window into his life and a little more wisdom by which to steer my own life.
Here are just a couple lines I marked:
Existential doubt is something you reach not by a process of reasoning but by looking into the abyss itself, and there are few who can do that without being devastated.
It is our business, as we journey, to keep our hearts open to the bright-winged presence of the Holy Ghost within us and the Kingdom of God among us until little by little compassionate love begins to change from a moral exercise, from a matter of gritting our teeth and doing our good deed for the day, into a joyous, spontaneous, self-forgetting response to the most real aspect of all reality, which is that the world is holy because God made it and so is every one of us as well. To live as though that reality does not exist is to be a stranger in a world of strangers. To live out of and toward that reality is little by little to become whole.
May we all seek to live towards that same reality.
Anyway, with all that said, this is not one of his best books. I think it's about as close as he'll get to writing an autobiography, and many of his stories are deeply personal and deal with terrible loss and regret, but the first half is also rather disjointed and not at all what I had expected. All in all, I'm glad to have read through it, glad to have another window into his life and a little more wisdom by which to steer my own life.
Here are just a couple lines I marked:
Existential doubt is something you reach not by a process of reasoning but by looking into the abyss itself, and there are few who can do that without being devastated.
It is our business, as we journey, to keep our hearts open to the bright-winged presence of the Holy Ghost within us and the Kingdom of God among us until little by little compassionate love begins to change from a moral exercise, from a matter of gritting our teeth and doing our good deed for the day, into a joyous, spontaneous, self-forgetting response to the most real aspect of all reality, which is that the world is holy because God made it and so is every one of us as well. To live as though that reality does not exist is to be a stranger in a world of strangers. To live out of and toward that reality is little by little to become whole.
May we all seek to live towards that same reality.
December 14, 2023
As an expat, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about home. This book was a tender, honest exploration of the topic. Satisfying.
March 1, 2008
Read more like a collection of essays than as one cohesive piece, but I liked it. Loved the poems he included, loved his reminiscences about his family, loved his description of his process of writing. I zoned out a few times ("Rinkitink in Oz" didn't do much for me), but things picked up at the end with a series of short reflections on faith, hope, and grace.
March 4, 2024
“It is our business, as we journey, to keep our hearts open to the bright-winged presence of the Holy Spirit within us and the Kingdom of God among us until little by little compassionate love begins to change from a moral exercise, from a matter of gritting our teeth and doing our good deed for the day, into a joyous, spontaneous, self-forgetting response to the most real aspect of all reality, which is that the world is holy because God made it and so is every one of us as well. To live as though that reality does not exist is to be a stranger in a world of strangers. To live out of and toward that reality is little by little to become whole” 120-121
June 27, 2021
this collection of essays so gracefully puts into words the aspect of faith I probably think about the most: the weird, constant acknowledgement that we're living in a world that doesn't live up to what we were designed for & will never be fully satisfied in. wonderful, challenging, comforting.
"We search to become human in a world that tempts us to be less than human or looks to us to be more."
"We search to become human in a world that tempts us to be less than human or looks to us to be more."
September 15, 2023
This was a library read, but I will be buying my own copy. I don’t want to let it go.
Read
December 26, 2009Rev. Buechner's Longing for Home holds within its pages wisdom for people of any faith. He is open about his own dark places which permits the reader to honor theirs. He depicts this dark side with a loving care that is exempt from righteous judgement.
Having experienced family issues and the meaning of what it is to be rooted and home, this spiritual read resonated for me.
Having experienced family issues and the meaning of what it is to be rooted and home, this spiritual read resonated for me.
December 12, 2007
As usual, Beuchner does an outstanding job. This short book of letters, poems and essays is a magnificent view of everyday life from a man who is near the end of his own. A must-read!
May 1, 2014
I felt that Part 2 was better than Part 1 but, on the whole, the book just didn't work for me. Part 1, in particular, was too disjointed.
January 10, 2019
This excellent book contains nuggets that really impress me. As the first Buechner book I've ever read, I didn't know what to expect. When I was a young adult, my pastor quoted extensively from Buechner, and his quotes were hi-falutin and inaccessible. This book remains accessible in a way the pastor's quotations never were. Reading is far better than hearing, I believe.
A few of the quotations that struck me as profound:
"The Jesus Who Is who says it now - 'he unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid' - and says it almost unbearably to every last one of us, the young as well as the old, the lucky as well as the unlucky, the victimizer as well as the victim, because there is not one of us who is not in some way heavy laden and in need of what he brings." (179).
"To love and serve God other than just dutifully, uninspiredly, means that maybe not at one incandescent moment in your life, but in the course of many no more than dimly seen but holy moments, you were impassioned to do so." (176-177)
"We are in constant danger of being not actors in the drama of our own lives but reactors. The fragmentary nature of our experience shatters us into fragments. Instead of being whole, most of the time we are in pieces, and we see the world in pieces, full of darkness at one moment and full of light the next." (109).
"It is our business as we journey to keep our hearts open to the bright winged presence of the Holy Ghost within us and the Kingdom of God among us until little by little compassionate love begins to change from a moral exercise, from a matter of gritting our teeth and doing our good deed for the day, into a joyous, spontaneous, self-forgetting response to the most real aspect of all reality, which is that the world is holy because God made it and so is ever one of us as well. To live as though that reality does not exist is to be a stranger in a world of strangers. To live out of and toward that reality is little by little to become whole." (121)
A few of the quotations that struck me as profound:
"The Jesus Who Is who says it now - 'he unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid' - and says it almost unbearably to every last one of us, the young as well as the old, the lucky as well as the unlucky, the victimizer as well as the victim, because there is not one of us who is not in some way heavy laden and in need of what he brings." (179).
"To love and serve God other than just dutifully, uninspiredly, means that maybe not at one incandescent moment in your life, but in the course of many no more than dimly seen but holy moments, you were impassioned to do so." (176-177)
"We are in constant danger of being not actors in the drama of our own lives but reactors. The fragmentary nature of our experience shatters us into fragments. Instead of being whole, most of the time we are in pieces, and we see the world in pieces, full of darkness at one moment and full of light the next." (109).
"It is our business as we journey to keep our hearts open to the bright winged presence of the Holy Ghost within us and the Kingdom of God among us until little by little compassionate love begins to change from a moral exercise, from a matter of gritting our teeth and doing our good deed for the day, into a joyous, spontaneous, self-forgetting response to the most real aspect of all reality, which is that the world is holy because God made it and so is ever one of us as well. To live as though that reality does not exist is to be a stranger in a world of strangers. To live out of and toward that reality is little by little to become whole." (121)
December 15, 2024
Barely 3 stars. I have liked all the other Buechner books I have read so I thought I would love this one; however, that was not the case. Part of that is my fault -- I either mixed up this book with another book or fell into a twilight sleep and dreamed I read something nightmarish. I looked and looked, but what I thought I had read was not in here. Nonetheless, the first half is still rather strange. I ended up feeling that the poems were probably for his grandchildren (family history in fictional poetry?). I got nothing out of Rinkitink in Oz, and only barely embraced Of Whipples and Wheels at the very end...as in the last paragraph. Then, the rest of the book was written in the Buechner style I recognized.
I needed to pay closer attention to the subtitle: Recollections and Reflections because I didn't actually catch much of the title The Longing for Home running throughout the book. (This is the second or third book this year where I thought: how disjointed can this author's writing be?)
Would my mom read it? Oh heavens no. If I found it strange and disjointed, she would doubly so and abandon the book far sooner than I would have (if I had not already invested so much time in it that I decided to finish even if it was painful).
Are there parts I liked? Yes, starting from page 104 onward (even though Buechner also uses darkness for evil on page 127), but even these 76 pages don't seem to connect and flow with and into one another. Go into thinking this is the reflections of a 70 year old man and you might be less disappointed. I was rather excited when I saw he wrote this at 70...until I kept reading.
Sounds like I needed to give the book a 2 star rating, doesn't it? But when Buechner is good, he is really good.
I needed to pay closer attention to the subtitle: Recollections and Reflections because I didn't actually catch much of the title The Longing for Home running throughout the book. (This is the second or third book this year where I thought: how disjointed can this author's writing be?)
Would my mom read it? Oh heavens no. If I found it strange and disjointed, she would doubly so and abandon the book far sooner than I would have (if I had not already invested so much time in it that I decided to finish even if it was painful).
Are there parts I liked? Yes, starting from page 104 onward (even though Buechner also uses darkness for evil on page 127), but even these 76 pages don't seem to connect and flow with and into one another. Go into thinking this is the reflections of a 70 year old man and you might be less disappointed. I was rather excited when I saw he wrote this at 70...until I kept reading.
Sounds like I needed to give the book a 2 star rating, doesn't it? But when Buechner is good, he is really good.
December 30, 2024
In "The Longing for Home," the insightful Presbyterian minister Frederick Buechner shares his heartfelt reflections on the myriad stories and feelings associated with the homes he's known and envisioned throughout nearly seventy years. With warmth and sincerity, he beautifully illustrates how Jesus Christ leads us toward a profound vision of wholeness, reminding us of our deep connections to our true home.
The writing in this book is truly captivating, particularly in the opening chapters! The author's ability to evoke nostalgia and longing for his youth and home is remarkable. As I navigate my 50s, living far from where I grew up, I can wholeheartedly connect with these beautiful feelings. It's a journey every reader can appreciate!
As I continued reading, the author's reflections on his distant family and the books he had read lost my interest, especially compared to his earlier writing in blank verse about people I couldn't relate to.
Buechner fondly reminisces about his grandmother's Vermont home, a cherished refuge that provided comfort and safety during his challenging childhood.
He beautifully weaves together a place's biography, a heartfelt letter to his grandson, and poetry to delve into the rich and diverse meanings of what home truly means.
This book is an excellent read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
August 5, 2018
Outstanding book by a gifted writer and communicator. I made it a goal to start reading people whom I love to read, the authors whom they read. Beuchner is mentioned often my authors whom I read and admire and I can see why. He has a gift with the pen. A very enjoyable and insightful book. I used this as basis of daily journaling for a chapter each morning. The last several chapters are amazing and I have pages of notes journaled on them.
January 21, 2019
At its best this book 100% has some 5-star chapters/passages/moments. I suppose it’s subtitle including “reflections” should have tipped me off to the idea that it might lack continuity. So perhaps with that expectation in mind it might merit 4-stars. But I’ll stand by 3 and note that there are places where it seems to feel aimless particularly in the second quarter or so. But there are a handful of chapters that make the book as a whole thoroughly worthwhile. I’d recommend it.
January 5, 2019
This was a beautiful and unexepectedly timely read for me. Each chapter is a self-contained reflection and in no way connected to the others beyond the author. As such, some reflections were deeply impactful and others I ended up skimming through. I would say this book would be most appreciated by lovers of good writing who find themselves suddenly in the throes of “midlife.”
March 15, 2023
Another masterpiece by my favorite author on one of my favorite biblical themes: the longing for home. Homesickness. The deep hunger inside all of us to belong—to know and be known—that’s imprinted in our very DNA as image-bearers seeking wholeness and rest in God.
Buechner is thoughtful and provoking and a masterful storyteller as always!
Buechner is thoughtful and provoking and a masterful storyteller as always!
January 28, 2022
Buechner explores the theme of home, both the place on earth we call home but also the deeper home place we’re all longing for at the end of our physical lives, drawing connections between the two. His vulnerability welcomes the reader into hearing what he has to say in his gentle way.
June 2, 2022
It is beautifully and lovingly written. What began as a psychological analysis of our sense of longing transformed into an explanation of faith. If you are Christian, you will relate to this. If not, you may want more.
August 29, 2018
"Home is where Christ is...." "...home is Christ's kingdom, which exists both within us and among us as we wend our prodigal ways through the world in search of it."
September 5, 2018
I just could not get into this book. It wasn't what I thought and had hoped it would be. That's not to say it wouldn't be liked by other, but just wasn't for me.
Want to read
February 2, 2023Leana included this in a newsletter.
February 13, 2023
I enjoyed this a lot, although the structure felt disjointed at times- some poetry, some essays, on various themes.
April 1, 2025
The middle was a bit slow
May 24, 2021
Whoa. So I am now reading books for persons of a certain age. Actually am re-reading this, but I am not sure I finished it when it was gifted to me about 25 years ago. What do I mean by "aging" here? less on physical but more on reflection so not sure if I have that as a correct category. We have memoir, poetry, reflections, letters...some still relevant today.
April 14, 2020
Buechner has a way of illuminating our deepest longings. I read this back in 2008 right before the recession.
The sermons in the second part of the book offer new angles in interpreting the Biblical texts, very enriching reading during during the Easter holiday.
The sermons in the second part of the book offer new angles in interpreting the Biblical texts, very enriching reading during during the Easter holiday.
September 26, 2022
For the past few years, it has become a New Year’s Day tradition of mine to tweet pretty much the exact same thing. It’s a quote from Frederick Buechner that goes like this: “Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid.”
Those three short sentences sum up so much of Buechner’s writing. They sum up so much of our lives. It’s that attunement to the reality of living that keeps me returning to his work, time after time, year after year. And blessedly, because he has been writing for so long, there are still “new” Buechner books to discover, even in 2021.
In the essays that comprise The Longing for Home, which was published in 1996, Buechner writes with characteristic verve and eloquence about longing for the homes of our youth (“the home we knew”), and also yearning for a future home that lies somewhere off in the distance (“the home we dream”). He writes from and about the particularities of his own life, while reflecting on how his “longings for home” have changed, how they’ve grown more acute, with age. It’s those particularities that resonate, even though the details of Buechner’s biography are neither yours nor mine.
At the end of a chapter that is jarringly specific and, one feels, probably twice as long as it needs to be – it’s the history of the Old Whipple Mill in Shaftsbury, Vermont, a history and a home to which he is only loosely connected – Buechner brings the story full circle and leaves us dazzled:
“Generally speaking, the threads that bind us to each other are no less real for being mostly invisible, no less important and precious. In the long run, each of our stories turns out to be the story of us all, and the home we long for has in all likelihood been home to others whose names we don’t even know and will be home again to still others when the ever-rolling stream of things has long since borne us away.”
Buechner is a wonderful writer, and while this is hardly the book I’d recommend to a newbie, I’m so glad The Longing for Home was and is there to discover.
Those three short sentences sum up so much of Buechner’s writing. They sum up so much of our lives. It’s that attunement to the reality of living that keeps me returning to his work, time after time, year after year. And blessedly, because he has been writing for so long, there are still “new” Buechner books to discover, even in 2021.
In the essays that comprise The Longing for Home, which was published in 1996, Buechner writes with characteristic verve and eloquence about longing for the homes of our youth (“the home we knew”), and also yearning for a future home that lies somewhere off in the distance (“the home we dream”). He writes from and about the particularities of his own life, while reflecting on how his “longings for home” have changed, how they’ve grown more acute, with age. It’s those particularities that resonate, even though the details of Buechner’s biography are neither yours nor mine.
At the end of a chapter that is jarringly specific and, one feels, probably twice as long as it needs to be – it’s the history of the Old Whipple Mill in Shaftsbury, Vermont, a history and a home to which he is only loosely connected – Buechner brings the story full circle and leaves us dazzled:
“Generally speaking, the threads that bind us to each other are no less real for being mostly invisible, no less important and precious. In the long run, each of our stories turns out to be the story of us all, and the home we long for has in all likelihood been home to others whose names we don’t even know and will be home again to still others when the ever-rolling stream of things has long since borne us away.”
Buechner is a wonderful writer, and while this is hardly the book I’d recommend to a newbie, I’m so glad The Longing for Home was and is there to discover.
April 16, 2014
At the front of my copy of this book, there is an inscription that reads:
It was an installation gift, eleven years ago. It and two other Buechner books, given to me because they were surprised I hadn't read any and also because they felt Buechner so well described the spirit of Royal Lane. I had, however, just before that read my first Buechner, his best book, Telling the Truth. So, I didn't read any of those three gifts immediately, but have read them at various points through the years.
The Longing for Home has provided material for a sermon here and there in that time, as I have opened it up and used from specific chapters. Finally, after I found it very helpful on a sermon a while back, I decided I'd best read the thing through.
It is a strange mix of different types of reflections, all of which he thinks centers in some way on the longing for home. The best portions deal specifically with that, and those are the portions that are good to use in sermons. The chapter "The Journey to Wholeness" is probably my favourite.
But there are poems, a chapter on Oz, a letter to his grandson, an interesting in its own right essay on a mill and the stories of its residents and owners, and then a series of small essays on theological topics. The strangeness of all of these together is clearly part of the point, but make the book, qua book, less than satisfying.
The closing theological reflections are at times so sentimental that they lack any force for me. He has stronger material on the same things. This is the kind of stuff that someone could read and feel good but which doesn't teach much. That said, I marked good lines and paragraphs, which I'm sure will appear in future sermons.
Overall, just okay.
For Scott, Who has already found a home among us. May we be family to you. Grace and Peace, Your Royal Lane Family
It was an installation gift, eleven years ago. It and two other Buechner books, given to me because they were surprised I hadn't read any and also because they felt Buechner so well described the spirit of Royal Lane. I had, however, just before that read my first Buechner, his best book, Telling the Truth. So, I didn't read any of those three gifts immediately, but have read them at various points through the years.
The Longing for Home has provided material for a sermon here and there in that time, as I have opened it up and used from specific chapters. Finally, after I found it very helpful on a sermon a while back, I decided I'd best read the thing through.
It is a strange mix of different types of reflections, all of which he thinks centers in some way on the longing for home. The best portions deal specifically with that, and those are the portions that are good to use in sermons. The chapter "The Journey to Wholeness" is probably my favourite.
But there are poems, a chapter on Oz, a letter to his grandson, an interesting in its own right essay on a mill and the stories of its residents and owners, and then a series of small essays on theological topics. The strangeness of all of these together is clearly part of the point, but make the book, qua book, less than satisfying.
The closing theological reflections are at times so sentimental that they lack any force for me. He has stronger material on the same things. This is the kind of stuff that someone could read and feel good but which doesn't teach much. That said, I marked good lines and paragraphs, which I'm sure will appear in future sermons.
Overall, just okay.
October 18, 2016
“(O)ur stories are all stories of searching. We search for a good self to be and for good work to do. We search to become human in a world that tempts us always to be less than human or looks to us to be more. We search to love and to be loved. And in a world where it is often hard to believe in much of anything, we search to believe in something holy and beautiful and life-transcending that will give meaning and purpose to the lives we live.”
Buechner is an amazing writer. In this book he examines the concept of home. Many of these are autobiographical, but they all talk about home in ways that his readers can relate to his musings. The essays are divided into two sections: The Home We Knew and The Home We Dream.
I have never read a book of Buechner’s that I haven’t learned from and enjoyed. This was no exception. The essays here made me think about how I view home.
Buechner was around 70 when he put this book together. Although I enjoyed these essays, I think some of his books are more cohesive than this one. I would recommend The Magnificent Defeat as a starting point.
Buechner is an amazing writer. In this book he examines the concept of home. Many of these are autobiographical, but they all talk about home in ways that his readers can relate to his musings. The essays are divided into two sections: The Home We Knew and The Home We Dream.
I have never read a book of Buechner’s that I haven’t learned from and enjoyed. This was no exception. The essays here made me think about how I view home.
Buechner was around 70 when he put this book together. Although I enjoyed these essays, I think some of his books are more cohesive than this one. I would recommend The Magnificent Defeat as a starting point.
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