In our house, How the
Grinch Stole Christmas is one of our favorite Christmas stories. I grew up watching
the animated movie every Christmas, and I still sing "You're a bad one,
Mr. Grinch" with rare enthusiasm. So when we bought the Dr. Seuss book, it
filled me with warm fuzzies.
Dr. Seuss has a way of bringing out deeper thoughts in his
children's tales, and as I read the book to my son for the thousandth time,
something struck me anew:
"It
came without ribbons! It came without tags!
It
came without packages, boxes or bags!"
And
he puzzled three hours, 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."
~How the
Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
Christmas is a Christian holiday, but it's been taken over
by the secular world with ease. Christmas is a glorious, sparkly, light-filled
holiday, celebrated with gift-buying and huge feasts. It has become more about
marketing and sales power than anything else, but underneath all the glitz and
tinsel, there is a truth that can't be avoided. Christmas, whether you're
celebrating it as a Christian or as a secular holiday, has a spirit beyond the
trappings, beyond the store-bought decor.
Other cultures have festivals of lights. I'm reminded of
Divali, an Indian festival that I learned to celebrate with friends in
university. Human beings, no matter where they reside or what religion or non-religion
they are affiliated with, long for light—pinpricks of hope in darkness.
Where there is light there is hope. Christmas trees, Divali
lights, strings of multi-colored bulbs that ring the outside of houses,
Chanukah candles... And for those of us who are Christian, we think of the
birth of the Light of the World. A tiny, flickering flame that came in the form
of a newborn baby, heralded by glowing angels and the light of a mysterious
star.
You can take away my ribbons, tinsel and tags, but Christmas
is still about the night that God bent low and touched this planet, setting it
ablaze with Hope. Is it any wonder that we feast, feast, feast, feast?
Merry Christmas! May your Christmas be filled with light,
love and a "rare Who Roast Beast."
_______
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