D*SPLACED

A man, as justification for me to move into his home, remarked, “for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”.  I scoffed, with disdain, at his attempt to bend a spiritual notion to suit his carnal desires.

The last few years, though, as I’ve moved from country to country, presumably satisfying my wanderlust, those words have haunted me. Home was always a physical place – where my bed was, inhabited by those I cared about most.  Accordingly, I’m now homeless – most of my stuff is in storage, I go to an empty apartment at day’s end, and should I not show, my bed will not seek after me.

But, has the very scattering of my possessions and loss of physical proximity to family created this displacement or is it merely an allegorical parallel?  For a short period I moved back to my parents’ home.  Sadly, it did not re-settle my heart. I’m disillusioned – unaware if the treasure my heart seeks is material, human, or spiritual. I do know it no longer tolerates the flux and flight it’s endured the last decade.  So I’m eagerly seeking my treasure, whatever it may be, wherever it may lie, in the hope it’ll grant my heart the reprieve it so longs from displacement.

- Araba N, Accra, Ghana – New York, NY

The grass was the wrong color, sunsets were too short and far from spectacular, there were no cocks to wake me up and the water made my skin dry.  When people said, “how are you?” they were gone before I could answer.  Once a guy at the cafeteria said, “you can get more chicken” I guess he thought I was chewing my bones because I thought I couldn’t have more.

I arrived in the US with a Swissair ticket that said destination; Cincinnati, Ohio, so as you can imagine I was shocked to hear, “welcome to Kentucky” – Cincinnati airport is actually in Kentucky…who knew?!?  The next day I was sitting in Ohio, just having arrived from West Africa, and burning up…apparently the Midwest is hotter than Ghana…again, who knew?!?

Now I know the rules, I’ve learned to say “I’m good”, I’ve bought myself some Jergens^®, an alarm clock, and some shorts for the summer. I have given up on trying to feel a part of this place, instead I take stock of what I have gained; experiences, friends, degrees, and a closeness to God that would never have happened had I not been taken out of my comfort zone.

- Akua B. Agyei, Ghana – Cincinnati