Their minds are occupied with earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. St. Pul does not want us to worry about “earthly things” but how can we not? There are bills to pay, places to get to, sickness in the air, political decisions to make. The image that came to me was of the mission in Puerta Jimenez, Costa Rica. This is a very isolated part of the country, close to the border with Panama. Even though it is quite remote there are many American citizens who have taken up residence there. However, though they live there the ex-pats really are part of the life of the community. They kind of live in a bubble apart from the Ticos (citiizens of Costa Rica). Perhaps that is how we are to think of ourselves. Since our citizenship is in heaven we are “ex-pats” here amid the ‘earthly things.’ We keep our own values, customs, practices even in the midst of the world we inhabit.
