Christmas: It's what we do best!

With a smile to his soul, he descended Mount Crumpet
Cheerily blowing "Who! Who!" on his trumpet.

Like most kids of my generation I was raised on "How the Grinch stole Christmas". It has always been extraordinarily special to me. I remember one day, just before Christmas eve dinner I was watching it. I was in my 20's, I think. I was alone and I was watching the end....the part where the Grinch brings all the toys and presents back down from Mt. Crumpet in his version of a sleigh. About halfway down the mountain the narrator, Boris Karloff, says these lines...."cheerily blowing Who Who on his trumpet...and then the Grinch brought a trumpet up to his mouth and blew a sound of glory out of it. I remember starting to cry at that moment....as I am crying now. That sound on that trumpet as the Grinch was thinking of nothing else but bringing joy back to the town so crystallized what can be the best about the human experience...and about Christmas; that feeling that you are so overwhelmed with joy that you simply must add a loud note to express the joy completely.

Christmas! We got this one right. Western Civilization has made a ton of mistakes over the years....too many to mention, but on this issue we did it .....to perfection. From the candy canes to the star on the top of the tree, and the Christmas cookies and mistletoe.

Christmas: The once a year holiday that seems to never stop being one of the cornerstones to the American culture. It may be a Christian based event but Christmas belongs to us all (of course)...the Jew, the Muslim, the Atheist, even. It has to!....it is about the only thing that binds us all together in a spirit of celebration and sustained socialization. We are all a little bit better during Christmas. It might just be that the Grinch was right....that our hearts do grow at Christmastime....not because we buy gifts, but because we remember people; we are thoughtful and most of us take time to include more people in our circles, circles that are usually much smaller. Yes, we all have bigger "circles" during Christmas. We even try to make strangers feel a little better. How many of us buy gifts for our mailman at any other time of the year?

"Merry Christmas" will always be my cheer at this glorious time of year. If you hear it from me just know that I want for you all the joy that Christmas has brought to me for each and every one of my years.

Everyone has (and deserves) a Christmas....it's undeniable. Everyone gets to look at the lights, and see the adorned trees, and receive the subtle message that is sent when a house takes the time to put up colored lights and decorations, and a wreath on the door. It's the one time of the year when strangers are speaking to us....just because it is Christmas. We can't hold back our excitement. We sing songs, lots of them, just about Christmas. We sing of eggnog and Snowmen and Santa Claus and Reindeer. I don't think there is anything proprietary about Santa and his sled of Reindeer. He's yours and he's mine. Santa's lap is big enough for everyone....even those who can't walk without a wheelchair....especially for them.

We tell centuries old stories about the redemption of a cold hearted rich man who didn't care about anything but himself and his money. We watch movies about a man who has focused so much on the citizens in his town and doing the right thing by them that he has gone virtually bankrupt; he learns that his life has been worth more than he could have ever imagined. He learns of the positive impact he has made on countless others in his town. "Strange isn't it...One person's life affects so many others".

We watch an animated movie about a grouchy green creature who lives in the mountains with resentment and scorn and his dog, Max. He tries to steal Christmas by stealing the toys and gifts of the townspeople...only to learn that Christmas "doesn't come from a store".

"And now that his heart didn't feel quite so tight,
He whizzed with his load through the bright morning light.

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

Halloween can't do that....nor a birthday or 4th of July.

What other holiday celebrates the bright, red, and glowing (and different) nose that isn't like any of the others? Christmas tells us that we can always find a place for "misfit" toys.

What other holiday is about leaving no one out?

In "A Charlie Brown Christmas" we are told that a small, pine needle-less Christmas tree is just as magnificent as a much larger and fuller one. It just needs to be loved.

"I didn't know it was such a bad little tree. It's not bad at all, really. Maybe all it needs is a little love." - Linus

And, though I am making the strong case that Christmas is for everyone, that it doesn't belong to Christians alone....it shouldn't go unnoticed that the story of Jesus, whether you believe it to be real or not, is about a man who lived life very much consistent with the values of Christmas. The New Testament is about the life of a man of compassion and love for all....a man of self sacrifice in support of those who have been left behind.

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave
me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me" Matthew 25:35

We may not all agree that there was a Jesus....but we can probably all agree that we hope such a man did exist. Many claim to be followers but few, if any, live the type of life that Jesus espoused. For some, though, Jesus can be a way of life....a way to live. You don't even have to be Christian to live a life inspired by the life of Jesus.

I feel that we should never forget what binds us together...it is not opulence or privilege, or status—it is the desire to live a dignified life, the chance to love others and to be loved and, the chance to realize a few small dreams and aspirations along the way.

If we are able to remember that we all have that in common...and that helping others in their life journeys is just as fulfilling as seeing it realized in your own life...then maybe the spirit of Christmas can be year round....for everyone!

From "Polar Express"

"At one time most of my friends could
hear the bell. But as years passed, it fell silent for all of them.
Even Sarah found, one Christmas, that she could no longer hear its sweet
sound. Though I've grown old, the bell still rings for me...as it does
for all who truly believe."

I wish for you that the spirit of Christmas is something in which you never stop believing.

May you always hear the bell.

Merry Christmas to you all ...and a Happy New Year!