‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ ‘Kind’, said the boy.
I wonder if you managed to see The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, during Christmas? This animation is from a book about friendship. Like all good children’s books, it has many messages for all. My daughter drew it to my attention. She works with some very damaged children and tells me they read the book all the time.
The characters in the book appear to be searching for something. In the animation this becomes the boy trying to find home. I prefer the book where the definition of home is much more abstract.
‘Sometimes I feel lost said the boy.’ ‘Me too’, said the mole, ‘but we love you, and love brings you home.’ ‘I think everyone is just trying to get home’, said the mole.
On this homelessness Sunday, we might ponder on this more abstract definition. We, rightly, strive to change the injustices that bring about homelessness, but in ‘mole logic’, we are all homeless from time to time.
‘What do we do when our hearts hurt?’ asked the boy. ‘We wrap them with friendship, shared tears and time, till they wake hopeful and happy again.’
We all have times when our hearts hurt. For me, ‘church’ is a place where I can come for that friendship, shared tears and time. For some this is the building of St Martin’s, for some a Facebook page, for some the hall, where we share coffee, for some it is The Connection, for some it is lunch with a friend they have met through ‘church’. Someone who can be trusted to love you for yourself. And when our hearts are happy again, we can come to ‘church’ and be the trusted friend.
‘Home isn’t always a place.’
Wendy Quill
