Myth Became Fact
What is your favorite Christmas movie or show? One of my favorites is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, the old stop-action one starring Burl Ives as the snowman who narrates the story. I love the characters: Yukon Cornelius, the prospector looking for silver and gold, the Island of Misfit Toys, and my favorite, the Bumble. (Bumbles bounce!) I love the music.
And I love the story. Rudolph and Hermy, the elf who wants to be a dentist, are outcasts who wind up not only proving themselves but bringing everyone to appreciate each other and remind everyone of what they call “the true meaning of Christmas,” which is apparently something like giving and compassion.
That is, of course, NOT the true meaning of Christmas. If that were true, it would be called something like Givingmas or Compassionmas. (The true meaning of Christmas is the wonder-full joy of God sending his only son to redeem the world from sin and death.)
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Everything Changed
My grandfather on my mother’s side was born in 1885 in England. He was older than my great-grandparents on my dad’s side. He was too old to fight in WWI. He lived to a ripe old age of 91, dying in 1976. He’d be 138 if he were alive today.
He saw the world change a lot in his lifetime. When he was born, there were no light bulbs or electric appliances in people’s homes; no telephones or radios or televisions. Only the very wealthy had electricity at all. There were no cars; Karl Benz successfully drove the first automobile about a year and a half after he was born. Among his earliest memories, as a small boy, was watching the first electric street lights being installed in London. He was 18 when the Wright Brothers made their first flight.
There were of course other major changes and events, but this isn’t a history lesson. Each of these changes had a long series of developments that led up to them, preparation and discoveries, circumstances that built toward a brink, a moment when the next step changes the world. The Wright Brothers’ wheels left the ground and soon air travel becomes routine. And he lived to see Neil Armstrong walk on the moon.
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The Light of Joy
Consider all the challenges children and youth face in our current age. They have all the struggles that people have always had with figuring out who we are and who we want to be, where and how we fit in cliques and awkwardness. All of that is acutely maximized by social media.
Smart phones, which almost all teenagers have, put the world at their fingertips. Some of that is good, bringing knowledge, information and different cultures into view, but also a great deal of stress that comes with heightened awareness of all the strife and struggles people face around the globe. A bus plunges into a ravine in Honduras. Rebels make gains in Myanmar. Ukraine. Israel. We are just beginning to grasp the deeply disturbing effect the lockdowns have had on education and mental health.
I could go on listing problems that affect our kids without taking sides on the issues, but we do take sides and they merit a lot of thought and discussion. But note the added stress that public debate of weighty issues place on young people. It’s quite a lot, and to be fair much of it looks dark. A bright light, then, is precious and influential.
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