If you’ve never seen “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, please minimize (no exiting since you will come back to read/share this article) this browser immediately and go watch it.
Charlie Brown is a classic that I could watch again and again. I make sure to watch the Christmas special every year for not only the humor from the man of the hour, Charlie Brown himself, and the sass from his lovely gal pal Peppermint Patty (like what a girl am I right?), but for Linus’ infamous Christmas speech towards the end of the special.
Linus is the character who clearly has some insecurities, as he constantly carries around his security blanket. However, at his school play he steals the spotlight when he recounts the story of the birth of Jesus after Charlie Brown asks if anyone could tell what Christmas is all about.
Usually “mic drops” are at the end of hit speeches, but Linus basically begins his speech with one. During his speech he drops his blanket. His security. Up until this point, I am not sure if Linus is ever seen without holding his blanket, despite the constant ridicules he endures from the other kids. This dropping of his security blanket occurs just as he says, “And the angel said unto them, ‘fear not’”. FEAR NOT.
[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://media.rbl.ms/image?u=%2Ffiles%2F2015%2F12%2F16%2F635858859362503251-86008721_giphy.gif&ho=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn1.theodysseyonline.com&s=931&h=b322069d6587b36bded550718ce6cd0ea5fecb4b22017616dada43e5f044bd91&size=980x&c=993726211 crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//media.rbl.ms/image%3Fu%3D%252Ffiles%252F2015%252F12%252F16%252F635858859362503251-86008721_giphy.gif%26ho%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fcdn1.theodysseyonline.com%26s%3D931%26h%3Db322069d6587b36bded550718ce6cd0ea5fecb4b22017616dada43e5f044bd91%26size%3D980x%26c%3D993726211%22%7D" expand=1] I think that sometimes, we become too consumed with the material and the superficial things during Christmastime, that we forget one of the true meanings of Christmas is to NOT FEAR, for Jesus is born. Linus reminds us by reading Luke’s Scripture, that Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, and that it is by this that we can learn to release our fears. We don’t need to depend on security blankets. Jesus and the supportive people around us during the holidays will help us to drop them and become better and stronger people. We can learn to cling onto others, including our family and friends who are around us during the holidays, instead of clinging to a piece of fabric.
Although Linus does indeed pick up his blanket at the end of his speech, at the end he uses it to wrap it around the Christmas tree Charlie Brown picked out. This is not the ideal tree as it is small and has about 2 pieces of pine needles on it, and Charlie surely endured a lot of slack for picking it out. But Linus wrapped his blanket around it while saying, “Maybe it just needs a little love”, and it instantly perks up. I think this is the perfect reminder that no matter who we are, we all need a little love during the holidays. So let’s focus on loving others and supporting them, rather than loving the material aspect of Christmas.
Happy Holidays everyone!
