From the photo on this post, my favorite is obviously not a secret. I love How The Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss. I love the book and the 30-minute animated special--not as crazy about the Jim Carey movie, but my daughter is. I love this book so much that when I had to plan a contemporary church service one year on Christmas Eve, I included a reading of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I really did.
Why?
After all, it's silly and short and for kids. Plus it features a disgusting green creature and his underfed dog. But the message is what that story is all about. I don't even have to explain it to you, but I tear up at these lines:
“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!”
"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."
Whatever your beliefs, the true meaning of the holiday season is generosity and love, hope and inspiration. I find that one of my favorite modern Christmas songs, "The Christmas Shoes" by New Song, sends the same message as The Grinch: stop the holiday bustle and get in the spirit, as hard as that is to do.
So, I know some of you love It's a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street. Others love the animated Rudolph and Santa Claus specials. Still, some look forward to Charlie Brown and his little tree every year. These are all great! But if I could only watch one, and let's face it--I'm supposed to be writing during all this holiday bustle--my choice is the big green guy.
What's yours?
6 comments:
Grinch is my favorite too! As I sit here in my Grinch pj's, sipping coffee
Make it me, too. The Grinch has it all--it's funny, it's sweet, it's sad. (And the Jim Carey version is horrible--even though I usually love Jim Carey.)
Got to admit, the Grinch is hands down mine, too. But Rudolph (the cartoon) is a very close second (and the book is good, too.) And I ALWAYS cried when I got to the end of THE POLAR EXPRESS.
Happy Christmas, Margo!
I'm so glad to see that I'm not alone. I guess that Dr. Seuss knew something after all. :)
Tis the day after Christmas so I'm catching up a little late. My choice may seem strange to some but my favorite Christmas story is "The Little Match Girl" by Hans Christian Anderson, not the Disney animation or one of a hundred remakes or retellings. I love the original story with its dark coldness and longing. For all of that there is love, warmth, and magic in the striking of a single match the mundane world cannot understand and often misinterpret.
There are so many . . . but we all watched "The Polar Express" this year as a family for the first time and I too cried at the ending. It was the perfect movie to watch with my 8-year-old son who continues to believe no matter what.
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