Faith & Religion

Christmas is over, but I bet many of you still have your trees and decorations up! What is it about this year? It’s been a rough one and I, for one, just hate to see the joy and sheer delight of the season come to an end. This Christmas - more than others - has been a wonderful diversion from all the craziness going on! So - just to hang on for one more week, here are some holiday tidbits to extend your season a bit.

A little over fifty-five years ago - can you believe it, 55?! - Charles Schulz’s animated musical “A Charlie Brown Christmas” aired for the very first time. The special hit our TV’s on Dec. 9, 1965 and our friend Charlie Brown became famous for his pitiful little Christmas tree! The story was actually a commentary on the loss of the true spirit of Christmas and the selection of his forlorn tree was to protest the commercialization of Christmas. The story ends on an amazing note as poor ol’ Charlie Brown asks, “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?” Linus reassures him by famously reciting the Christmas story from Luke 2. Such a terrific Christmas story - both of them!

Gifts! Gifts! Gifts! People sure love getting and giving them year round don’t they?! And it seems at Christmas, it gets ramped up to full speed ahead! So, besides baking every cookie known to man, fully decorating your home - inside & out - sending cards to people you rarely see, and attending all sorts of holiday events - you now find yourself shopping your head off for scores of people. But what to buy?? The million dollar question for sure.

Can you remember back to a time when you found money laying on the ground in a parking lot - maybe just a dime or a quarter? I don’t know about you, but when that happens, I always feel like I’ve hit the jackpot. Have you ever been gifted with something for no reason - not your birthday, anniversary, or Christmas - you didn’t deserve or earn it - the favor just happened, totally unexpected?

The older I get the more I am amazed at how gullible some people are! P.T. Barnum once said, “There’s a sucker born every minute,” and he was right. There is just no limit to what some people will believe!