Christmas Perspective: Tale of a Furry Green Cynic

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Tale of a Furry Green Cynic

The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness doesn't extinguish the light.

John 1:5 (CEB)

There's something about Christmas time

Something about Christmas time

That makes you wish it was Christmas everyday

To see the joy in the children's eyes

The way that the old folks smile

Says that Christmas will never go away

From "Christmas Time" by Bryan Adams

Every year, during the last school assembly before Christmas break, the faculty at my school performed a dramatic reading of How the Grinch Stole Christmas,¹ a story written in 1957 by Theodor Geisel, better known to the world as Dr. Seuss.  This beloved story tells of an embittered furry green hermit known as the Grinch, who lived north of Whoville with his dog Max.  The Grinch utterly hated the Whos who lived in Whoville, and he hated the noise they made while they were celebrating their favorite holiday, Christmas.  He especially hated that, at the end of the day, after opening presents and feasting, the Whos would gather together, join hands, and sing Christmas songs.

One year, on Christmas Eve, the Grinch decided that he'd had enough of the Whos' noise, so he hatched a plan to put an end to the Whos' Christmas celebration.  He fashioned a Santa costume for himself, disguised his dog as a reindeer, and, in the middle of the night, rode into Whoville to do the exact opposite of what Santa Claus does.  He went from house to house, stealing Christmas presents, decorations, and all the food for the Whos' communal Christmas feast.

Nobody really knows why the Grinch hated the Whos so much.  Some speculated that "his head wasn't screwed on just right."  Others thought that maybe "his shoes were too tight."  Ron Howard's 2000 live-action reimagining of the story² suggests that the Grinch grew up in Whoville and was mistreated by some of the Whos because he was different, though nothing like this is suggested in Dr. Seuss's original story.  The prevailing theory behind the Grinch's misanthropy (or hatred for Whomanity) was that the Grinch's heart was "two sizes too small."

Personally, I suspect that the Grinch's misanthropy stemmed from cynicism: in other words, at some point, for some reason, the Grinch lost all faith in Whomanity.  Notice that he formed his plan under the assumption that the Whos were all utterly materialistic.  He assumed that Christmas would be ruined for them if he took away all of the material trappings of the holiday: the presents, the decorations, and the feast.

The Grinch was voiced by horror icon Boris Karloff in the original 1966 cartoon short,³ and he was portrayed by funny man Jim Carrey in the live-action theatrical film.  When the faculty at my school performed a dramatic reading of the story every year, the part of the Grinch was read, most appropriately, by the school principal.  Looking back at my attitude toward Christmas during the last few years and skimming over some of my previous Christmas reflections, I'm starting to think that I've been playing the Grinch lately.

Like the Grinch, I have lost a lot of faith in humanity in the last few years, and I too have become cynical.  It's so easy to become cynical in this world.  It seems that there's so much wrong with the world, and, worse yet, it seems that there's so much wrong about even the things that ought to be right about the world.

My cynicism has even affected how I feel about the Christmas season.  I get so put out with the materialism and consumerism that has hijacked the holy day.  I hate seeing the time of year meant to celebrate the birth of the Savior of all humanity used to get people into stores to buy stuff.  Though I have no problem with Santa Claus, I don't like to see his workshop at the mall before Halloween.  I have no aversion to giving presents on Christmas, but I grow weary of racking my brain trying to figure out what to buy for people who don't really need anything.  Most of all, I'm tired of hearing about an imaginary "war on Christmas" and hearing preaching about the "reason for the season" from Christians who are no less materialistic than anyone else.

Alright, I'll stop complaining and get back to the story.

The Grinch, once he was finished with his dastardly deeds, rode to the top of Mt. Crumpit to dump everything he had stolen and to listen for the sound of weeping from the town below.  Instead, he heard a sound he didn't expect.  He looked down and saw that, even without presents, decorations, or a feast, the Whos had gathered together to sing, just as they always did on Christmas.  The Grinch saw that, despite his best efforts to ruin Christmas for the Whos, "It came without ribbons!  It came without tags!  It came without packages, boxes, or bags!"  He could take away all of the material aspects of Christmas, but he could not take away the song in the Whos' hearts.

The Grinch sat there, puzzling "till his puzzler was sore."  Finally, he realized that there was more to Christmas than he originally thought.  When he saw that celebrating Christmas meant more to the Whos than exchanging presents and stuffing themselves at dinner, he also realized that there was more to the Whos than he originally thought.  The Grinch had a complete change of heart toward the Whos.  It is said that his heart, which was previously "two sizes too small," grew three sizes.  He rode into Whoville to return everything he had stolen, and he stayed to celebrate Christmas with the Whos, even carving the roast beast at dinner.

So is there a lesson here for the cynics like myself who cannot seem to enjoy Christmas for all the noise?

In How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Dr. Seuss reminds us that Christmas is more than a materialistic frenzy.  During Christmas, we celebrate the birth of the one who is both fully God and fully human.  Jesus Christ, the "image of the invisible God,"⁴ came into the world to show us what God is really like.  As a human being, Christ also came to show us what humanity is meant to be, through His example of self-sacrificial love.

It was not until the Grinch saw the good in the Whos that his attitude toward them and toward Christmas changed.  The challenge I offer to those of us who have become cynical toward the Christmas season is to look past the crowded stores, traffic jams, and complaints about plain red cups at coffee shops, so that we allow ourselves to see the people who reflect the love of Christ and celebrate Christmas with a song in their hearts.  May we all seek ways to reflect this love to others so that everyone may see that there's more to Christmas than what meets the eye.

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

Notes:

1. http://www.amazon.com/Grinch-Stole-Christmas-Classic-Seuss/dp/0394800796
2. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0170016/
3. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060345/
4. Colossians 1:15

The image of the Grinch is taken from the 1966 television special Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Advent Perspective: What Are You Expecting?

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

What Are You Expecting?

By the tender mercy of our God,

the dawn from on high will break upon us,

to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Luke 1:78-79 (NRSV)

O come, thou Wisdom from on high

And order all things far and nigh

To us the path of knowledge show

And cause us in her ways to go

From "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"

as translated by Henry Sloane Coffin

About six months before the birth of Jesus, a child named John was born.  The child's father Zechariah had been told by an angel that the child would grow up to carry out a special purpose.  Upon naming the child, Zechariah prophesied that something big was afoot, specifically the coming of the Messiah, the long-awaited leader who would save the Jewish people from their oppressors and usher in an age of peace.  He prophesied that his newborn son would somehow be involved with the Messiah's arrival, that he would someday be "the prophet of the Most High" who "go before the Lord to prepare His ways."  Zechariah believed that dawn would finally break upon a people who had been long trapped in darkness.¹

John grew up to become a prophet, just as his father had predicted.  He lived in the wilderness, challenging people to change their ways and baptizing people in the river as a sign of repentance and forgiveness.  To borrow a phrase from one ancient prophet, John was the prophetic voice "crying out in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'"²  John believed that Jesus, a relative of his, was the Messiah who would soon set things right in the land and that such changes would require people to change their hearts and lives.

John and those who followed him had certain expectations about the Messiah.  The Jewish people had spent years suffering under the boot of the Roman Empire, and they expected a Messiah who would defeat the Romans and restore Israel to its former glory.

When Jesus' public ministry had begun, John and his disciples began to expect that things were finally going to get better... until they didn't get any better.  As prophets are wont to do, John angered the wrong people and landed himself in prison.  Sitting in his cell, he begins to second guess himself, wondering if the one he had been supporting is actually going to do what He is supposed to do.  John calls for two of his disciples and sends them to Jesus to make an inquiry.  They asked Him, "Are You the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?"

Jesus has already done a lot of wonderful things in His ministry thus far.  He says to the messengers, "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them."³

Notice that, when John's messengers ask Jesus whether or not He is the one they are expecting, Jesus doesn't say yes or no.  He simply tells them to report what is going on because of Him.  It is as if Jesus is saying, "That depends on whom you are expecting.  Tell John what you've seen.  I am who I am."  Even though John was the one destined to prepare the way for the Messiah, perhaps he and his followers did not fully understand who the Messiah would be or what the Messiah would do.

After the two messengers leave, Jesus says to the crowd, "I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John; yet the least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he."⁴  If even the person Jesus considered the greatest to walk the face of the earth didn't quite understand the Messiah or the Kingdom He came to establish, what does that say about everybody else?  What does that say about us, for that matter?  Though we might have information that Jesus' original audience didn't have at the time, are we really any more advanced in our thinking than they were?  If so, then why do we keep imposing the same kinds of expectations on God and God's Kingdom?

Like John, Jesus also rubbed certain people the wrong way.  One day, His detractors begin lobbing at Him one loaded question after another.  A religious scholar hears how well Jesus answers these questions, so he approaches Jesus with a difficult question of his own.  Unlike the others who are questioning Jesus, this scholar is sincerely searching for something.  He asks Jesus which rule in the Jewish Law is the most important.  Jesus replies, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.'  The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

The scholar says - and I paraphrase - "Wow!  That makes a lot of sense.  I think You're right."  Jesus then says to him, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God."  Jesus says that the scholar is "not far" from the Kingdom, meaning that, like everybody else, he wasn't quite "there" yet, but Jesus commends him for being on the right track.⁵

This is the season of Advent, a time of longing and expectation.  Though we look with hopeful expectation toward the time when the Kingdom of God is a reality on Earth as it is in Heaven, I don't think we fully know what to expect, like the people of Jesus' day.  Whatever the Kingdom of God is, it is a reality in which love is of primary importance.  It is something that will require us to reconsider our beliefs and our actions, as John called people to do.  It will even require us to rethink our expectations of God.  As Kent Dobson recently said, "To really, truly anticipate something that you don't yet know means whatever you have needs to go."⁶

God might not always meet our expectations, but God is always good.


Notes:

1. Luke 1:8-20,57-80 (NRSV)
2. Luke 3:1-17 (NRSV)
3. Luke 7:18-23 (NRSV)
4. Luke 7:24-28 (NRSV)
5. Mark 12:28-34 (NRSV)
6. Kent Dobson.  "Metamorphei: Week Ten."  Mars Hill Bible Church, 12/06/2015.

St. John the Baptist Preaching was painted by Mattia Preti in the 17th century.