By Dave BurchettI try to stay away from politics in my humble ramblings. I learned my lesson about trying to make a spiritual point with a political example in my first book. Nothing causes people to take the grace card off the table quicker than being on the wrong side of their political views. So I proceed with great humility in this post. I know the White House has a lot on their plate. I know that there is a lot to track every day. But doesn’t someone have a TV Guide at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? Of all the the shows they could have preempted, why did they have to preempt
A Charlie Brown Christmas? I would be happy to give them a list of shows that would benefit the culture by preempting them. But no one asked.
A Charlie Brown Christmas is one of my annual delights. The message of Christmas and the meaning of Christmas is powerfully portrayed in this classic show. In many ways Christmas has become an economic and not a religious holiday. There are so many icons like Santa Claus and Rudolph and the Grinch that are not at all related to the religious aspect of the holiday. The annual battles over nativity scenes are likely cranking up.
One of the most powerful reminders of the message of Christmas came from the genius of the late Charles Schultz in
A Charlie Brown Christmas. One simple and elegant scene captures it all for me. Charlie Brown has failed miserably in his attempt to find the true meaning of Christmas. But then Linus recites the following passage from the King James version of the Bible.
"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 round about them: and they were sore 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 Saviour, 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."
And then Linus says to Charlie Brown, "That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown." That is what I believe Christmas is all about. So despite my tongue-in-cheek dismay with the White House schedule makers I choose to take the message received by the shepherds to heart today. You are forgiven Mr.Schedule the Speech Guy. There is a timeless message that no one can preempt.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Comments (11)
aww great post! :)
Charles Shultz, despite being culturally Lutheran, was a secular humanist (which is inherently atheistic) so I doubt you are really extracting the true meaning of "A Charlie Brown Christmas."
I would be terribly disappointed if Christmas were purely about Jesus. Many cultures have their holidays just before the new year, and in all cases the holidays are about family gathering, gift-giving and generosity, togetherness, love, et cetera. it makes me cringe and feel that people have missed the point completely when they go on about Jesus.
At the time A Charlie Brown Christmas was released in 1965, Charles Schultz was a Sunday School teacher in the Methodist church.
It really doesn't matter if Charles Schultz was a Lutheran, an atheist, or anything else. The Word of God is in that movie. The Word does not return void. Anytime anyone uses it, it achieves it's purposes. We are not to say what purposes God intends for His Word going out (or being pre-empted), even in a Charlie Brown movie. Millions of children have been exposed to God's Word in this way. It's sad that we don't get to uphold a long-standing family tradition this year.
I am quite amazed that this cartoon is still shown. I would have bet it would have been banished due to it not being 'politically correct'. That being said, it is about the only Christmas cartoon or family broadcast that is really about Christmas. The other things shown are anti-Christmas. (Anybody know of another one?)
@When_We_Were_Both_Cats@xanga - Be disappointed..
It's CHRIST-mas for a REASON.
Just like when (if?) your family used to celebrate your birthday. It was about YOU... If someone decided they could cash in and make a mint by throwing you out of your birthday, that's what you're trying to do.
I don't care if it's the RIGHT day. It's the day that Christians use to CELEBRATE the BIRTH of our God as the human SAVIOR.
If you don't like that, then get drunk on Chistmas Eve and sleep through Christmas.
@togodsownglory@xanga - wow, so it's your way or the highway? Atheists are excluded from Christmas? What about other religions - are they not allowed to celebrate their own holidays/savior birthdays?
@When_We_Were_Both_Cats@xanga - Some people like making Christmas purely about Jesus. If that's what they like, there's nothing wrong with that. To each his own.
@togodsownglory@xanga - "If you don't like that, then get drunk on Chistmas Eve and sleep through Christmas." That was a bit unnecessary.
Anyway, I love all the Peanuts holiday cartoons. Even at the age of 19, they still make me happy.
@When_We_Were_Both_Cats@xanga - "What about other religions - are they not allowed to celebrate their own holidays/savior birthdays?"
What does that even MEAN?!
Jews celebrate Hannukah, African-American Muslims have created Kwanza for such a purpose.
Create your OWN holiday, if you want. But DON'T try to STEAL ours, re-vamp it to be something that it ISN'T, and then say you'd be "disappointed" if it IS what it IS SUPPOSED to be!
Christmas has become a family get-together day, BUT the ORIGINAL Christian meaning for the holiday IS the REAL meaning. If you get together with your family, and yet DON'T celebrate Jesus' birthday, then you're NOT celebrating CHRISTMAS, you're just using a holiday break as a useful time to get together. That's NOT what Christmas is about, any more than taking a sick day from work to go skiing would be what a sick day is about.
You're trying to redefine and thereby co-opt a religious word, concept, and usage.
Why? Because you don't want the main thing to be the main thing.
It's a common situation for non-Christians dealing with a religion that defines humanity as sinful and needing the saviour that was God the son, became Jesus the baby, was born, lived a sinless life, and then died as payment for any human's sin who accepts Jesus as his God/master/saviour/friend and trusts Jesus' death to pay for our sins, and sees proof of this payment in how he was buried and how he rose again physically, and STILL lives in Heaven, working for our good, continuously interceding on our behalf with his Holy Father when we come short of perfection.
If these things are not true, OR can at least be IGNORED, then you as an unbeliever can live life according to your principles without overwhelming guilt and/or fear forcing your hand.
I'd rather you be disappointed and accept the truth. Whether you DO accept the truth is totally up to you, and doesn't really change a thing for most people, though. Either way:
Jesus IS the reason for the season. Accept that, and better yet, accept HIM!
@togodsownglory@xanga - I'm afraid you've missed the point. I'm not trying to take your Jesus from you, rofl. Of course whatever you think the holiday is about, you're entitled to celebrate.
With my first comment I was just saying that, if you want a holiday to even feature togetherness, generosity, family values, etc etc, you might want to put down the intense exclusivity (mentioned in my second post) that your religion applies every other 364 days of the year and let everyone play your reindeer games.
That's like saying that if you want breathing to even feature energy-enhancement, health, well-being, etc. etc., you might want to put down the intense exclusivity of your biological demands and start allowing yourself to breath all sorts of stuff, because that's tolerant.
What you can't do without biologically is equivalent to what we can't live without religiously. You want Christians to give up our "intense exclusivity" for this "togetherness, generostiy, family values, etc etc", but that exclusivity is one of the basic building blocks to our religion, and our personal faith. If we open ourselves to more widely acceptable 'options', then we lose what makes us Christian. Christianity is basically the belief that the EXCLUSIVE only God is three personalities (if not also seperate persons - definitions beyond mere humanity at this point, I think) and the EXCLUSIVE only way for ANY human other than Jesus Christ (God the Son become human) to become welcome with God, and lose all sin-debts that all humans but Jesus are required to pay - with their own eternal deaths, is EXCLUSIVELY to trust that Jesus Christ died in our place to save us from that debt and pay that debt for us, and thereby we are now sons and daughters of God, and are from that point on new creatures that desire to do God's will and to glorify him in every thing we think or do.
Our faith, as well as our holidays ARE exclusive. You can be part of the exlusive group by merely believing and trusting in that same death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
For God so loved the world that he gave his own son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Romans 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Romans 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Romans 4:20 He (Abraham) staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
Romans 4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Romans 4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
Romans 4:23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
Romans 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
Romans 4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Romans 10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
EVERYONE can enter in, but most people just want to take the easy way out and say that God doesn't or shouldn't have the right to make rules about how he will deal with his creatures, especially the ones who won't do what he wants in the first place. Creation was a God-committee idea, and you don't have voting rights on anything except whether you accept his rules and his SIMPLE and EASY way to the winning side.
I hope you now see that, while exclusive, our faith is totally open to anyone who is willing to play by the rules.
Associated analogy: walk-ons welcome, but you still have to abide by the game rules, OR YOU CAN'T PLAY!