When All Has Been Said…What Else Can You Say?

Let’s see, it’s been an estimated 2,000 years since the first Christmas. There were no Christmas carols then, no one rockin’ around the Christmas tree yet, and the first Christmas cards were centuries away. The first Christmas sermons weren’t yet a forethought, much less an afterthought. But since then, much has been said and written about that holy event. So much that we feel inclined to wonder: What else can possibly be said?

Still, sometimes what’s old somehow manages to be forever new. Like the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s “Messiah.” Many of us have heard it many times, yet it never fails to stir the soul. Or the redemptive message of “A Christmas Carol,” whether read from Charles Dickens’s original writing, or portrayed on film in the Reginald Owen, Alistair Sim, George C. Scott or other newer versions. Timeless virtues never seem to go out of date.

Most of all, we have the original Christmas story, captured in Luke 2:1-20. For all of us who believe that the Word (Jesus) became flesh and indeed lived among us (according to John 1:14), it never ceases to inspire an overwhelming sense of wonder and awe. This being Christmas day, I’ll just reprint it below. It speaks for itself:

The Christmas story is one that never gets old.

“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

‘Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.’

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”

All I can add to that is…AMEN! 

Nostalgia, Wishful Thinking and the Nativity

The Sears Wish Book peaked imaginations
for more than 60 years.

Do you remember the annual Sears Wish Book? The seasonal catalog sent sugarplums dancing around youngsters’ heads for decades. We complain when stores unveil Christmas decorations in early fall, but the Wish Book appeared in late summer, giving kids months to fantasize over what they would discover under the tree on Christmas day.

A recent newspaper article reminded me of this iconic publication that spanned 1933-1993, featuring everything from tools to telescopes, and most important…toys. It was a winter wonderland for a young person’s imagination months before the first snowflakes would appear.

The Wish Book’s now a remnant of days gone by, but thinking about it flooded me with nostalgia. It’s like watching “It’s a Wonderful Life,” the original “Miracle on 34^th Street” with little Natalie Wood, “White Christmas” with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, and even Laurel and Hardy’s “March of the Wooden Soldiers.” They transport us to places and times far, far away, when we weren’t held captive to technology or rumors of impending social upheaval. That was too long ago!

Alas, who needs a Wish Book today when we have Amazon and the Internet? And in our skeptical age, sentiments and values portrayed in movie classics seem sentimental and sappy, hardly a match for the harsh and unsettling realities bombarding us today.

Nostalgia’s a thing of the past – literally. Some people think it’s old hat. And it’s that, too. But I say, bring it on. The more nostalgia, the merrier. Especially during the Christmas season.

"A Charlie Brown Christmas" has captivated
viewers since 1965.

Despite new recordings released every year, we smile when we hear traditional holiday tunes like “The Christmas Song,” “Jingle Bells” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” The fragrance of a fresh-cut Christmas tree evokes memories from years past, and for decades we’ve thrilled to hear hapless “Chuck” proclaim the Good News of the first Christmas to the shepherds in the fields in “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”

Traditional carols remind of us what Christmas is truly about: “O Come All Ye Faithful,” “The First Noel,” “Angels We Have Heard on High,” and “Joy to the World.” The favorite of many, “Silent Night,” always draws me back to my boyhood days, attending Christmas Eve services in the Hungarian-American church in New Brunswick, N.J., where the simple tune written by Franz Gruber was simultaneously sung in both Hungarian and English.

Nothing is more nostalgic, in my view, than various depictions of the very first Christmas – Mary, Joseph and the Christ child huddled in a humble stable with cows, sheep, angels and shepherds peering over their shoulders. Ranging from simple creations that fit in the palm of a hand to cute Precious Moments renditions to elaborate Nativity scenes that are true works of art, they remind of the amazing time when “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14).

With our annual commemoration of that day nearing, let’s hope and pray that despite the turmoil and discord that seem to reign in society, we will experience the reality of this declaration: “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests'” (Luke 2:13-14).