Lesson #1: There is Something Special About Christmas

How the Grinch Stole Christmas



Fah who for-aze!

Dah who dor-aze!

Welcome Christmas,

Come this way!



Fah who for-aze!

Dah who dor-aze!

Welcome Christmas,

Christmas Day.



Welcome, Welcome

Fah who rah-moose

Welcome, Welcome

Dah who dah-moose

Christmas day is in our grasp

So long as we have hands to clasp



Fah who for-aze!

Dah who dor-aze!

Welcome, welcome Christmas

Welcome, welcome Christmas Day

So he paused. And the Grinch put a hand to his ear.

And he did hear a sound rising over the snow.

It started in low. Then it started to grow...



But the sound wasn't sad!

Why, this sound sounded merry!

It couldn't be so!

But it WAS merry! VERY!



He stared down at Who-ville!

The Grinch popped his eyes!

Then he shook!

What he saw was a shocking surprise!



Every Who down in Who-ville, 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!"

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!"

Lesson #2: Christmas Means Misfits Have a Place



Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

We're a couple of misfits

We're a couple of misfits

What's the matter with misfits

That's where we fit in!



We're not daffy and dilly

Don't go 'round willy nilly

Seems to us kinda silly

That we don't fit in.



We may be different from the rest

Who decides the test

Of what is really best?

We're on the Island of Misfit Toys

Here we don't want to stay

We want to travel with Santa Claus

In his magic sleigh!



A pack full of toys

Means a sack full of joys

For millions of girls

And for millions of boys

When Christmas Day is here

The most wonderful day of the year.



A jack-in-the-box waits for children to shout

"Wake up! Don't you know that it's time to come out!"

When Christmas Day is here

The most wonderful day of the year.



Toys galore, scattered on the floor

There's no room for more

And it's all because of Santa Claus.



A skooter for Jimmy

A dolly for Sue

The kind that will even say, "How do you do?"

When Christmas Day is here

The most wonderful day of the year.



How would you like to be a Spotted Elephant?

Or a Choo-Choo with square wheels on your caboose?

Or a water pistol that shoots -- jelly?

We're all misfits!

How would you like to be a bird that doesn't fly? I swim!

Or a cowboy who rides an ostrich?

Or a boat that can't stay afloat?

We're all misfits.



If we're on the Island of Unwanted Toys

We'll miss all the fun with the girls and the boys

When Christmas Day is here

The most wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful day of the year!

Lesson #3: The True Meaning of Christmas

A Charlie Brown Christmas

I learned that Christmas was MORE and that it had something to do with finding community.

I learned that, because of Christmas, there were no more misfits, no more outsiders or marginalized ones.

I learned about empathy, compassion, and that Messiahs might be misfits.

I learned about how community can be the route for the redemption of evil.

And here with Charlie Brown, I learned that the humility of Christmas makes it oft overlooked and despised.

In 2007 I wrote a series entitled "Everything I Learned about Christmas I Learned from TV." That series has been one of the most popular things I've written and it's been my tradition to post it again every Christmas season. The original series was comprised of three different posts. This year I've pulled them together into a single post. One link and you have the whole thing.As a child I loved all the children's Christmas shows., and, to name a few. With no videos, cable, NetFlix or DVR these shows were once a year opportunities. If you missed a show, you wouldn't see it again for an entire year.So, these were BIG events in my childhood.I was so addicted to these shows that, looking back, I can now discern that everything I know about Christmas I learned from TV. Specifically, I learned from TV three big lessons about Christmas.The first lesson I learned was from. The lesson was this: There is something special about Christmas. Something that transcended the presents, Christmas trees, meals, or decorations. Christmas, to quote from, was "a little bit more" than all these things.If you don't recall the show, here's the basic plot. The Grinch, who lives in the mountains high above Whoville, hates the noise associated with Christmas. So, he dresses up like Santa Claus and ties a horn on the head of his dog Max to make him look like a reindeer. In these disguises they set off for Whoville.Once in Whoville the Grinch proceeds to steal all the Christmas presents, trees, decorations, and food. He packs all this up and heads back up the mountain just as Christmas day is dawning.The Grinch's plan is simple. He figures that if he takes away all the Christmas "stuff" the Whos won't be able to celebrate Christmas.But the Grinch is wrong. In the climactic scene the Who's come out of their homes and, without a single piece of Christmas paraphernalia or presents, begin to sing their Christmas songUpon hearing the song the Grinch has this realization, and I quote:And this realization has such a profound effect upon the Grinch that his heart, previously two sizes too small, grew three sizes that day.So, I learned fromthat Christmas was more than ribbons or tags. More than packages, boxes, or bags. Christmas was MORE.But here was the deeply puzzling thing about. Watch it as many times as you want and it will never be revealed just what Christmas was truly about.is a negative tale. It tells you what Christmas. But it fails, in a quite puzzling way, to tell you what ChristmasSo as child I was left in quite a quandary. Christmas was clearly very special, but it was still a mystery. Luckily, there was more TV to watch! And a part of the mystery of Christmas would be revealed to me in that quirky tale of a mutant reindeer and his friend, the elf, who wanted to be a dentist...After watchingl knew there was something special about Christmas. Butnever says exactly why Christmas is special. I got a clue to answering this question by watching that classic Christmas programThe entire plot of Rudolph centers around misfits. The central misfits are Rudolph and the elf Hermey.Rudolph, obviously, has some kind of genetic mutation. He's got a red nose and that, well, just isn't natural. So he is shunned, mocked, and excluded from the reindeer games.Hermey has a different problem. He's terrible at making toys. And he also doesn't enjoy singing in Santa's elf choir. What Hermey really wants to be is a dentist. But for this curious interest Hermey is, like Rudolph, ostracized and made fun of. They are both, clearly, misfits. This is captured in the mournful little song they singSo Hermey and Rudolph leave Christmas Town and set out on their own. The misfit theme is continued when Hermey, Rudolph, and Yukon Cornelius, after being chased by The Abominable Snowman, find the Island of Misfit Toys. This is an island where rejected, unwanted, and unloved toys find sanctuary. Rudolph, sympathetic to the plight of the Misfit Toys, because Rudolph knows what it's like to be a misfit, promises to take their plight to Santa. This is the lament of the misfit toys:At this point in the show all the misfit themes are coming to a climax. We see misfits seeking community, we see empathy as one misfit identifies with another, and, finally, we see one misfit seeking to act as savior. A misfit to save the misfits. A misfit Messiah. But the theology of Rudolph takes its most radical, surprising, and extreme turn when the personification of evil, The Abominable Snowman, comes back from death in a quirky resurrection event--Bumble's Bounce!--as a peaceable creature who is also in need of loving community. Apparently, this "evil" creature is also a misfit. And the hint is that he's "abominable" because he's been marginalized and without community.So, summarizing all this, I learned from Rudolph this important lesson about Christmas: Something about Christmas means misfits have a place, a community, a home. Or, rephrased, Christmas means that there are no more misfits.But I was still puzzled as a child. FromI learned that Christmas wasthan presents and Christmas trees. And fromI learned that Christmas had something to do with misfits finding a place of love. But in both shows the reason behind it all remained elusive. Why do misfits have a home? And what does being a misfit have to do with Christmas?never says.So I was quite puzzled. But luckily, there was more TV to watch! And I finally got my answers in a speech delivered by a boy who loved to carry a blue blanket...After the hints about Christmas from the Grinch and Rudolph I finally turned to that trusted friend Charlie Brown.InCharlie Brown is struggling to find out why Christmas is so depressing. He seeks advice from this local psychiatrist, Lucy, who gets him to direct the school Christmas play.Well, this doesn't go very well. Eventually, Charlie Brown is rejected as director and asked instead to go buy a Christmas tree for the play.Most of the symbolism infocuses on the tree he picks out. Out of all the shiny, bright artificial trees Charlie Brown picks a real but forlorn little tree that isn't much more than a branch.Charlie Brown takes this tree/branch back to the cast and they laugh at both him and the tree. This ridicule pushes Charlie Brown over the edge and he finally screams, "Would someone please tell me the true meaning of Christmas!!!!!" At which point Linus steps forward.But before we hear Linus's answer, let's reflect on the symbol of the forlorn little Christmas tree. It's a humble little tree, not much to look at. And it's rejected and despised by men. And yet, it is real. All those flashy other trees are dead, cold, and fake. They are empty and hollow. But this fragile little tree is REAL. It's fragile, but real.And all this taught me that whatever Christmas is about, it is about something that is humble, about something fragile and weak, about something that is despised, marginalized, and overlooked. It is life, it's real, but it's so humble that it is easily overlooked and passed over. Further, its humility makes it a stone of stumbling, a scandal, and a reason for offense.So, to recap, these are all the lessons I learned about Christmas from watching TV:But to this point in all this TV viewing no one ever connected the dots among all these things. No one had spoken the word that explained just what all this stuff had to do with Christmas. So I perfectly understood why Charlie Brown screamed "Would someone please tell me the true meaning of Christmas!!!!!"Well, Charile Brown and I finally got our answer. Linus steps forward and explains it all:May there be peace on earth and good will toward all. Merry Christmas.