Home Alone

To refer to a group of people as "homeless" one must believe in "home." Might that be part of our problem? Have we lost our concept of "home," if not our "home" itself? It is time to go home again and find that our home is in God.

The runaway smash movie of the 1990-91 holiday season was a farcical comedy entitled Home Alone. The plot of the movie whirled around the adventures of a young boy who is accidentally left home alone when his family flies off for a European vacation. While his frantic parents encounter endless delays trying to return for their misplaced son, the boy is shown learning to manage by himself, quite nicely, thank you. He masters the tasks of grocery shopping, cooking, laundry and not-so-incidentally also manages to foil two would-be burglars. For this upbeat movie there are few bad consequences suffered by either parents or child from their unplanned separation. Indeed, "absence makes the heart grow fonder." When finally reunited, the family draws closer and more consciously appreciative of the love all its members share.

Unfortunately, not all children left home alone cope so capably or ever experience the return of a family with welcoming hugs and full hearts. For many home-alone...