Home Alone

Click to watch the scene

I watched Home Alone the other day. It’s my favorite Christmas movie.

As a kid, I loved the crazy pranks that Kevin pulls on criminals. The tar on the steps. The hot doorknob. The flamethrower. The micromachines. The Michael Jordan cardboard cutout dancing in the window. Classic.

But as an adult, I cry every year. That movie is really about reconciliation, forgiveness, and how we can always come home.

Spiritually, I think that’s true. There are times when I find myself far away from feeling “spiritually home.” I get disconnected from the vine. I get distracted by the noise of the world. My soul becomes unmoored.

And, for me, this feeling of being away from my spiritual home isn’t about “disobedience,” or being “unfaithful,” or not going to church. This feeling of being spiritually far from home is about my disconnection from others. It’s about getting so wrapped up in my own self that I forget I’m a part of a larger human family.

I love the movie, Home Alone, because it explores how scary and cold it is when we’re alone… and how warm it is when we’re reunited.

And maybe the whole point of this season is to remind us to come home to each other. Maybe there’s a star shining in the sky tonight that will inspire us to go connect with the people we choose as our own holy family.

That makes me wonder if John Candy’s polka band in Home Alone represents the shepherds in Luke’s gospel. Nah. Probably not.

Anyway, I pray that we will all return home to each other.

How can I pray for you?

What does your soul need to feel like it is home?

How can you provide home for people you encounter this season?