A Charlie Brown Christmas, 1965



I love Christmastime. The season is filled with generosity, beauty, and music. When I think of Christmas entertainment, one show that comes to mind is the Charlie Brown Christmas special.

Vince Guaraldi plays the familiar songs that make us all want to do the Snoopy dance. The idea that Charlie Brown is such a blockhead that he can’t even pick out a good Christmas tree is such a sympathy-generator. And the free-spirited dance time that breaks out when the kids are supposed to be practicing for the Christmas play makes me want to dance too.

But Linus is, in my opinion, the hero of the show. He’s the one who cheers up Charlie Brown and tells him to get refocused on what Christmas is all about. Linus speaks from the Bible about the birth of Jesus, quoting from Luke chapter 2.

When a popular family show that reappears every year at this time reminds the audience that Christmas is about Jesus, it makes me smile. I think we all have picked out a scrawny tree or bought a less-than-perfect present. I think we all need to relax and remember it isn’t about the things we buy. Christmas is about Jesus.

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