A
favorite Christmas classic comes from Dr. Suess’s story, How the Grinch
Stole Christmas. The devilish
Grinch determines to steal away from Who-ville all the presents, wrappings,
stockings, trees, ornaments, and treats in an effort to stop Christmas from
coming!
Three thousand feet up! Up the side of Mt. Crumpit,
He rode
with his load to the tiptop to dump it!
“Pooh-Pooh
to the Whos!” he was grinch-ish-ly humming.
“They’re
finding out now that no Christmas is coming!
“They’re
just waking up! I know just what they’ll do!
“Their
mouths will hang open a minute or two
“Then the Whos down in
Who-ville will all cry Boo-Hoo!
“That’s a
noise, “grinned the Grinch,
“That I
simply MUST hear!” So he paused. And the Grinch put his
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!
...
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!”
(Dr. Suess, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, New York: Random
House, 1957.)2
Have we
come to the Grinch’s realization- that maybe Christmas “means a little bit
more”? The Christmas spirit does not come from pies, from presents, or
from parties. The true Christmas spirit
is the spirit of Christ.
We remember Christ, who was born
in a humble stable. His mother, Mary,
who wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and Joseph who cared for his new little
family. The angel who brought the good
tidings to the shepherds. The shepherds
who left with haste, to worship the baby Jesus.
And the wise men who brought their gifts in honor of the Christ child.
Church
Apostle, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland stated, “Perhaps this provides an important
distinction we should remember in our own holiday season. Maybe the purchasing
and the making and the wrapping and the decorating… should be separated, if
only slightly, from the more quiet, personal moments when we consider the meaning
of the Baby (and his birth) … [We] need to remember the very plain scene, even
the poverty, of a night devoid of tinsel or wrapping or goods of this world.
[And focus on] that single, sacred, unadorned object of our devotion—the Babe
of Bethlehem.”
So we
want to start off, from December 1, remembering Christ. We read in Luke 2, in the events leading up to Christ's birth, that there was "no room" for Mary and Joseph in the inns.4 We hope that this Christmas season, we will make room in each of our homes for Him. To learn of Him- to prayerfully read and ponder his life, to
learn of the importance of his birth, and of His life’s mission. Our hope is that this Christmas, we will be
able to find, and strengthen our relationship with, Christ. That we will invite Him into our homes for Christmas.
References:
1. 20th
Century Fox Film, “Jingle All The Way”
2. Dr.
Suess, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, New York: Random
House, 1957.
3. Church Apostle, Elder Jeffrey R.
Holland, “Maybe Christmas Doesn’t Come From a Store”, 1977
4. Luke 2:7
4. Luke 2:7
Published by: McKell
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