I hope that you will be safe this holiday. Enjoy yourself and remember that the Christmas season is not about gifts.

That’s right, a lot of people have missed this. When you read How the Grinch Stole Christmas, or one of my favorite books, A Christmas Carol, ask yourself: What is the message the authors are trying to convey? Both books have the same message. Seuss uses the Grinch to tell us…well let me just quote it:

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 and puzzled till his puzzler was sore
then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before
“What if Christmas—he thought—doesn’t come from a store…
What if Christmas–perhaps–means a little bit more.”

The point of the book is that stuff doesn’t matter.

Look at Dickens’ Christmas Carol. The message isn’t “scrooge learns to be charitable.” That’s just a result of what Scrooge really learns. The book is really about him learning the joy of being with those you love. Remember that he had cast aside the woman of his dreams, he had spurned his nephew’s invitation to come to Christmas dinner, and he had scoffed at treating Bob Crachet as a partner and friend. But at the end, he learns that life is about living it with people you love.

People always say “Christmas is about giving gifts, its not about getting gifts.”

No. It’s not about gifts at all! It’s about being with your loved ones, because you might not get another opportunity until next Christmas, if ever again.

So I hope you remember that as you enjoy your Christmas, and spend it with the ones you love, and who love you.

 

God bless us, every one.