The Grinch, Whoville my take on Christmas
I'm al little jaded
Christmas is upon us. Time to hide behind the redundancy of overplayed songs, the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Charlie Brown, and the race to buy and give meaningless gifts that are mostly forgotten in the not-to-distant future. Their useful needs will soon be replaced by the latest and greatest trinket and whatever Hallmark holiday comes next.
Yup. I’m a little jaded.
Often we hide our pain in acts of scripted giving. It's hard for some and easy for others. So I ask myself, am I running to or from Christmas?
Remember that first COVID Christmas and the isolation and fear it brought? Merry Merry. Isolation breeds contempt. I can be the king of contempt.
“You’re a mean one Mr. Grinch”.
Maybe the true meaning of Christmas is lost in the angst and its hollow symbolism.
We are allowed to protest our outrage but we don’t make room for other points of view. In many ways, the media and clickbaters encourage us to focus on our differences rather than the common ground that hides in the disdain we have for those not like us.
So, should I run to or from run from Christmas?
It's easy to be angry and confused. That anger can be cathartic and damning, healing or crippling, it creates wonder or envy. Maybe it all depends on whether you are running to or from Christmas.
“You're a monster
Your heart's an empty hole
You're a goner
You got garlic in your soul”
Not so fun fact, my mother died 36 years ago on Christmas Day. My kids know her from only the stories I’ve told them, and the images of her I’ve shared. They have created their version of Grandma Gretchen, each child with their own version of her. I see her in all of them.
As a person who's experiencing another Christmas as a divorced man and all the loneliness and pendulating pain that comes with it. (do you feel me?). I’m inclined to run away from Andy Williams, Frosty the Snowman, Charlie Brown, and that manger in Bethlehem. I will become exhausted from my running away pausing only to catch my breath, look up, and see I don't know where I am or maybe I do.
But there in the background of my contempt, I hear it…… I hear a child laughing at the whipped cream on their nose or the person in front of me in the drive-through at Starbucks buys my drink and I do the same for the person behind me.
'“Fahwho foraze, dahwho doraze
Welcome Christmas, come this way
Fahwho foraze, dahwho doraze
Welcome Christmas, Christmas day
The Grinch returned the Christmas he stole. He ran to Christmas. So this Monday, I will choose Christmas in the tree I didn't want to buy. Accepting maybe even embracing its glimmer of hope through its tiny little flashing lights and the north star’s brilliance that shines the way.
Welcome, welcome fahwho rahmoos
Welcome, welcome dahwho dahmoos
Christmas day is in our grasp
So long as we have hands to clasp
I’ll remember all the pics we took of the kids staged reluctantly on the stairwell, 20 years worth of photo ops time, geography, and divorce have moved us beyond. I’ll remember it in the Evel Knievel toy I got that Christmas of 75.
Fahwho foraze, dahwho doraze
Welcome Christmas, bring your cheer
Fahwho foraze, dahwho doraze
Welcome all who's far and near”
Maybe I’ll see Christmas in the Lasagna I ineptly prepare for my kids on Christmas Eve. (an act of love in its preparation, an act of love in their eating it)
They remind me that I've been loved and I am loved and perhaps I’m still worthy of being loved with all my imperfections.
I may choose to run to Christmas and its message of hope, promise, unconditional love, never-ending forgiveness, and the healing power that comes with it.
May you all find the courage to run from whatever is anchoring you. Run to something that gives hope. May God breathe on us all this year and may you find joy in the simplicity of hope that is Christmas.
“And what happened, then? Well, in Whoville they say – that the Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day. And then – the true meaning of Christmas came through, and the Grinch found the strength of ten Grinches, plus two!”
Run to Christmas naked with me…….Merry Merry - Willy Boo