Blogger Notes

I have to say that A Charlie Brown Christmas is my absolute favorite Christmas movie. There's not much competition, really. Sure, Rudolph and Frosty are ok, I guess, but nothing ever compares to Charlie Brown.

I think it's because Charlie Brown's evident frustration with the overall commercialism of Christmas is something I go through, more or less (and this year MORE) each time the yule tide season rolls around.

Don't get me wrong; I can't find the words to express the joy that Christmastime brings into my heart. But after a couple of weeks the excitement, I guess, or the novelty of it being Christmastime, wears off and I can't handle the same old stupid Christmas songs on the radio or the packed shopping centers full of irate people loaded down with stuff.

I don't mean to be a Scrooge. But it gets depressing to witness. Going out is discouraging.

"Isn't there anybody who knows what Christmas is all about!?" shouts Charlie Brown after his failed pageant rehearsal.

Enter Linus to save the day and offer Luke 2:8-14:
"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone about them: and they were so afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not. For, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'"

I'd be lying if I said that part doesn't bring tears to my eyes every year. Maybe it's because it's one of the few things on tv during Christmastime that actually discusses what Christmas IS all about. Or maybe it's the sweet simplicity with which the story is told. It's probably both.

Either way, when I get gloomy with the state of Christmas and what it has become, I like to think of Charlie Brown and his buddies and, above all, the child who was born to die to save someone as unworthy as me. And when I think of those things, I feel like I'm able to overcome the sadness and the frustration Christmas never fails to bring me and feel only joy because I know I am celebrating the Savior.