There’s no place like home. “Hearth and Home” is an American expression, but it’s a concept that transcends culture and is closely related to the song, “This Old House.”
Hearth & Home
Perhaps the earliest example is the Greek goddess Hestia. Family, domesticity, and the correct ordering of the household were all concerns of Hestia. Vestia was her Roman counterpart. From Vestia comes the Latin vespers, or evening prayers. Likewise, Venus is the evening star. The modern concept of home economics and the nurturing, protecting aspects of family all fall within the domain of Vestia.
Delving deeper still we discover the roots of “no place like home” in the Biblical model of Adam and Eve, husband and wife in the traditional family. Although it may not be politically correct today, man and woman are described in the Bible as equal in essence, but disparate in role and function. Man is “defender of the faith” and woman is “keeper at home.” The nuclear family of husband, wife and children comprise the foundational building block of a stable culture.
But that did not detract from woman’s role as provider, which is not the exclusive domain of man. The culminating chapter in the Book of Proverbs presents woman as a successful real estate investor and agronomist. Even here, she is tied to the land. And to the home.
She considers a field and buys it; From her earnings she plants a vineyard. She girds herself with strength, and makes her arms strong. She senses that her gain is good; Her lamp does not go out at night.
This joyful partnership is captured in images of “home.” Home is that harbor of the soul to which man seeks refuge from the storms of life for sustenance and renewal. It calls to mind images of a family gathered around the hearth, or bowing to pray before a meal. It is captured in the word pictures that color our language:
* Home is where the heart is
* Home is where you hang your hat
* I’ll be home for Christmas
* I’ll be home for Christmas
* Home sweet home
* There’s no place like home
This Old House
Perhaps no piece of Americana captures the concept “there’s no place like home” better than the song This Old House, which topped the charts in 1954. It is one of our most popular songs of remembrance. The song was written and published by Stuart Hamblen in 1954, and was immediately picked up by Rosemary Clooney who made it a #1 hit in both America and Britain that year. Shakin Stevens also did a rendition in England. But what human drama could ever have inspired such a poignant strain?
Stuart Hamblen was a musical cohort of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and John Wayne in the early days of radio. Hamblen and a friend were trekking through the woods in pursuit of game one day when they stumbled on an old, dilapidated shack, that appeared to be crumbling on its foundation. Forcing the door they were horrified to discover an old man dead and forgotten in the house. Scenes of his last days in the deteriorating structure flashed before Hamblen’s eyes and he hurried to translate the images to words on his brown paper lunch bag. He composed the music later in the week.
The words and the music of “This Old House” interact in a marvelous way to create a stirring mood. The verse depicts the aging human body in the decay of an old, dilapidated house. The need for this earthly tabernacle will soon be gone in the face of impending death. But this grim prospect is mitigated by the snappy bounce and rhythm of the tune, representing the joy of the soul anticipating a return to its Maker.
Hamblen was a devote Christian, capturing in song the promise of Christ at John 11: 23-26: Jesus said to her:
“Your brother shall rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Oliver Woods is a real estate entrepreneur offering some of the most discounted deals out there for residential and commercial investors today. Or he can help direct you to the strongest return available when selling your property through his nationwide home marketplace for sellers