Nostalgia And "A Charlie Brown Christmas"

Nolan and I watched A Charlie Brown Christmas together on DVD this afternoon. Well, I watched it and he played with his stuffed alligator and glanced at "doggie dancing" (Snoopy) every once in awhile. I love, love, love this simple, sweet cartoon. As a little girl I remember being excited for days beforehand when I knew it would be airing on TV. The day it would air I'm sure I asked my Mom about a hundred times "Is it coming on yet?" Finally, after what seemed like a million hours of waiting not-so-patiently, my brother and I would sit on the couch together in our jammies and slippers and eat popcorn while the magic that is A Charlie Brown Christmas came alive on our TV. We watched intently, wide-eyed and happy, and then headed to bed dreaming Peanuts dreams.

As an adult I still have a warm place in my heart for this show. Actually, the warm place has grown even greater through the years because I am so grateful that a clear presentation of the true Christmas story is smack dab in your face a la Charles M. Schulz. Schulz couldn't get away with producing that show in our current relativistic, godless day and age. It would be viewed as "too religious" and "narrow" and would never get airtime. He'd get flak from critics because Santa wasn't a focal point and Snoopy failed to decorate his doghouse with a menorah or Kwanzaa star. But in 1965 a Christmas classic was born and millions of children worldwide who may never have heard the true Christmas story apart form this cartoon classic HAVE heard...simply because of the tiemelessness of this show.

Schulz, you're not only an amazing artist and storyteller, you're an evangelist. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for incorporating your faith in Jesus into your art and into our contemporary culture.