Christmastime is here … almost!
In just
a couple of nights, it’ll be time once again for one of the most important
Christmas traditions in our family: the annual live viewing of Charles Shultz’s
A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Notice
I specified “live” viewing. Therein lies the tradition.
Ever
since CBS premiered this program in 1965, every single year – without exception
– I’ve been blessed to see at least a
portion of the broadcast live.
By my
calculations, this will be my 48th consecutive year. I've watched it "live," every single year it's ever been broadcast. How’s that for
a “tradition”?!
I’ve
watched this program over the decades in numerous states, in all sorts of
places, under all sorts of conditions. But so far, God has been good to me and
permitted me to see some of it live, every single year.
One
year, in the 1970s, I almost didn’t make it. The community choir in Enterprise,
Ala., had been rehearing the full Handel’s Messiah (all three parts) for months, with the goal of presenting
it one time and one time only to the entire city at the local community college.
We’d even contracted with a symphony orchestra to come from Florida to
accompany us!
As luck
would have it, CBS decided to air A
Charlie Brown Christmas the exact night of our performance – and at
the exact same time! Arrgh! What to do?! I wasn’t about to miss the opportunity
to sing the entire Messiah, but I
couldn’t miss the Peanuts gang!
Fortunately,
the community choir was directed by my friend and director of our local church
choir, John Leland. I had spotted a television in the lounge of the student
union where we singers were donning our robes. I tuned the TV to CBS (WTVY out
of Dothan, Ala.), and with John's cooperation, I “suggested” to a couple of the ladies in the choir that a
hairdo or two might need a bit of adjustment before we went to the auditorium.
It
worked! Several of the females in the choir insisted on one last look-see at
the mirror, and I was able to catch the few opening minutes of the show.
Success – and an unbroken streak!
Why is
this special such an important part of our holiday around here? It’s virtually
the only thing you’ll see on secular television every year that touches on the crass
commercialization and secularism of Christmas -- and serves as a beautiful
reminder of the TRUE meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ.
In its
purity and simplicity, the program is touching, heartwarming, and truthful.
What more could you ask?
Yes,
the show has been butchered and vandalized and hacked up over the years, but
its soul and heart somehow remain intact. It hasn’t been shown in its original
form since 1967, yet it still tugs at the heartstrings of most all who watch
it. It is truly amazing.
So, if
you watch this year (and I truly hope you do), think of me, sitting in front of
my TV set with a Coca-Cola in hand (the original sponsor of the program),
reciting my favorite lines, and still getting emotional when little Linus reads
us the Christmas story in the auditorium.
Be
blessed, and to you and yours, a very Merry Christmas.
(Updated, 28 Nov., 2012: made it for that 48th consecutive year! Huzzah! And we enjoyed it as much as always!)
it's funny (but not funny, haha) how i let this one go in my wandering years. but now that i have g'babies, come Christmas, watching this show seems as imperative as the Nativity. tradition, "the old ways", whatever you wanna call it, we must hold tightly to that which represents our values.
ReplyDelete(p.s. love your clever means of getting the few minutes in the 70s!)