Linus, The Grinch and Me .... How Cartoon's taught me about Christmas

I'd like to share with you how cartoons taught me about Christmas. Now before anyone thinks that my parents didn’t teach me about the true meaning of Christmas, we should remember that just because I didn’t learn doesn’t mean they didn’t teach me.

I know my mom read us Christmas stories and scriptures.  I remember to this day a creche she had and set up every year.   I remember it because my mom’s name is Gloria and the little ceramic Angel that hung on top of the stable had a banner around her that read “Gloria”.   I always thought that was because it was my mom’s nativity, not that Glory in Latin is Gloria.  So I’m sure my parents did the best job they could at the time to teach me about Christ, and Christmas and the true meaning of Christmas.   Like I said, that doesn’t mean that is what I remember.

I remember learning about Christmas from two cartoons.  The first one is "Charlie Brown’s Christmas" and the second is "How The Grinch Stole Christmas". 

Everyone loves Charlie Brown, the sad little round headed kid that seems to be the Eeyore of his world.  There are several lessons I learned from Charlie Brown.   Sometimes little things in life can make a difference.  Like the little tree he chooses on the lot.  Sometimes those little things need our attention, and love, and caring.  At Christmas time, it’s the little things that make the difference.

The world is too caught up in its own trendiness.  Lucy is the perfect embodiment of the world’s view of Christmas.  It’s all about the “me” factor.  Lucy isn’t bad; she just doesn’t realize the higher level and more important aspect of having a Christ-centered Christmas.  Many of us get too caught up in the process of Christmas and all the glitter and lights.

However, most importantly, I can never read Luke 2 without hearing the innocent child voice of Linus Van Pelt, alone on the stage, spot light centered on him reciting those wonderful verses that announce the birth of our Savior.

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night….

Youtube Link of Linus reciting Luke 2

ending with, “and that is what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown.”   I don’t remember when the first time I heard Linus say those words, but I’ve heard it for many years since then.  Originally, when I was young, there were no VCRs.  (Yes, I’m older than VCRs).   So I’m sure I only heard it once a year.   But it was enough to engrain his voice in my head every time I read those verses.  And that is Ok.  The scriptures say that “A little child will lead them”. (Isaiah 11:6)  I kind of think about that.  

Who better than a child to announce the birth of the Son of God to come to live among men.

For the Grinch, of course, there is another great lesson.  Not directly about the Savior, but about each of us.  I know I read this story many, many times before I saw the show.  I’m talking about the classic TV Show, not the Jim Carry/Ron Howard film.   I have nothing against the film and think it is a good adaptation of the story, but it was the book and the TV show that impressed me long before the film.

This is a good time to bring up a fact many people don’t know about me.  I am not a huge fan of poetry.  I ‘m not saying I hate it, but I know I don’t appreciate it as much as many other people do.   I know this because I don’t like to read poetry that much and often I find myself skimming to the end so I just get through it.   I also know that all poems don’t need to rhyme.

None-the-less, I have always loved the rhyming of Dr. Seuss.  I grew up on Dr. Seuss and think he was an amazingly talented writer, both for adults as well as children.   Two of my favorite books are “The Grinch who Stole Christmas” and “The Lorax”.  There are times all through the year I find myself quoting some snippit out of one of those books.  It is just something that is part of my vernacular all year round.   I always call roast beef, “roast beast”.  I’ve always called the Christmas sing-alongs “Who Christmas sings”, and if I see a small child just learning to walk, I often find myself thinking there is “Little Cindy Lu Who, who was not more than two.”

Many times when I’m hiking up some steep mountain side I find myself muttering “10,000 feet up, up the side of Mt. Crumpet he rode with his load to the tip top to dump it.” 

I’ve loved the whole Grinch story for as long as I’ve remembered.  I memorized it in high school and recited it to children at schools with a little arm puppet I had who was my Grinch.  I’ve read it to each and everyone one of my children’s elementary school classes in Kindergarten or First Grade.  I watch the TV show every year, and usually read the book once or twice a year, as well.

So what did I learn?   Well, the whole story is tailored to one central theme, summed up in a few choice lines:

   “Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small,
Was singing without any presents at all!

He hadn't stopped Christmas from coming! It came!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!

And the Grinch, with his grinch feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling. "How could it be so?

It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
It came without packages, boxes, or bags!"

He puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.

Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.
Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more!"

Whenever I find myself  getting caught up in the Christmas rush, the buying of presents, or shopping hoards, the parties, the pressure, the glitter, and flash, I find myself repeating those words… "maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

So here is my wish to you this Christmas season, that you may see things like I do.  I hope a child can lead you toward the Savior and may the Grinch help you remember that Christmas is something more than all that the world makes it to be.

Merry Christmas and Peace on Earth, Good will to Men.