THE HOMECOMING: A CHRISTMAS STORY The Waltons are waiting for a miracle in The Homecoming: A Christmas Story. The children want to see if the farmyard animals really do kneel to the baby Jesus at Christmas. John-Boy and his mom, Olivia, just want to see John senior safely home again. Working away from home, he has a long, difficult journey to make through the mid-winter snow. Times are hard on Waltons Mountain and temptations abound. Ike Godsey tries to convince Olivia that credit at his store is a good thing. The Robin Hood Bandit is stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. The Baldwin sisters are making moonshine to make ends meet and a local preacher is working for them. A missionary lady comes to town giving away Christmas gifts, but the Walton children are forbidden to accept charity. After a heroic effort by John-Boy to find his daddy, John senior makes his own way home in time for Christmas. With him come the answers to everyone problems and the Walton family say goodnight to each other in their usual contented and loved manner. At times we might feel like a family without a father, surrounded by a world of temptation. We might be strong enough to resist. We might give in occasionally. But our Father is coming back and He is the answer to all our problems, the solution to every temptation. John Walton brings Olivia a miracle. Flowers in the dead of winter. A symbol of spring. When she protest that he must have spent all his pay check on gifts for her and the children, he tells her they will live on love for a while. If modern times seem to you like a spiritual winter, hold fast to the idea that spring is coming. When Jesus begins his reign, when Heaven are earth become one, we will live on love forever. That will be quite a homecoming! Those Little Extras • The Homecoming aired in 1971. The TV series it piloted ran until 1981. • Earl Hamner’s book, Spencer’s Mountain, the basis for the series, was based on his own childhood. • The actors who played Olivia, John senior, and Zebulon (Grandpa) changed between the movie and the series. • The Waltons won an Emmy for Outstanding Drama in 1973. Several of its stars won individual awards for their portrayals of Walton family members. To The Gift-Giver As attached as we might be to this world, Lord – overly attached at times – there are few of us who think this is our home. Even the cynical will sometimes admit to a yearning they can’t quite explain. Thankfully, we realize that this life is but a journey. There is home our souls cry out to. And we will be most welcome when we reach our journey’s end. From The Gift-Giver In my Fathers house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. John 14:2. KJV How Wonderful Other People Thought It Was “Every traveler has a home of his own, and he learns to appreciate it the more from his wandering.” Charles Dickens. English novelist. 1812-1870 “How often have I lain beneath rain on a strange roof, thinking of home?” William Faulkner. Writer and Nobel prize winner. 1896-1962 “Home is the nicest word there is.” Laura Ingalls Wilder. Author of the Little House on the Prairie books. 1867-1957 Surely it is not wrong for us to think and talk about Heaven. I like to find out all I can about it. I expect to live there through all eternity. If I were going to dwell in any place in this country, if I were going to make it my home, I would inquire about its climate, about the neighbors I would have.” Dwight L. Moody. Evangelist. 1837-1899 “There is nothing half so pleasant as coming home again.” Margaret Elizabeth Sangster. Poet, author, editor. 1838-1912 https://youtube/watch?v=umEEnFtmV0I
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 16:40:40 +0000
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