No Grinch, no Glory

Those few days when Christmas movies begin to show on regular TV, Christmas music starts playing in stores and holiday décor begins to go up, is simply the sweetest few days of the year.

Tonight, I accidentally watched "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", and I'm ashamed to say that I never really cared to watch it before, much less tonight. The 30 minute cartoon, however, was quite impressive as Dr. Seuss poetically unfolded a timeless truth wrapped in a heartfelt, humorous short-story.

The "Who's" of Who-ville, to me, represented a community of people (hopefully believers) who find no lasting value in material things; yet venture to allow the giving of those things be an outpour of the love already overflowing in their hearts.

"Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,
Would stand close together, with Christmas bells ringing.
They'd stand hand-in-hand. And the Whos would start singing!"

I'd like to think their singing came from a place of deeper joy over their relationships amongst each other. And though, to the Grinch, it was viewed that Christmas to the Whos was more about presents and décor; that community of Whos knew better. Christmas was a representation of something deeper and a reason to celebrate rather than a celebration, itself.

It took affliction to reveal this truth.

"Then he slunk to the icebox. He took the Whos' feast!
He took the Who-pudding! He took the roast beast!
He cleaned out that icebox as quick as a flash.
Why, that Grinch even took their last can of Who-hash! "
The removal of the material; the absence of the tangible and the loss of the physical gifts, however, were unable to rob the Whos of what really mattered--love.

"Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any presents at all!

He HADN'T stopped Christmas from coming!
IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!"
So whether it was Dr. Seuss' intention of revealing an underlying spiritual truth or to simply reiterate the meaning of Christmas (as it were to pagans); I contend that believers can take a timeless truth from this short-poetic story:

True joy can be found only in Jesus Christ. Once we've accepted the gift of God's Son as our payment for sin & understood the value of walking with Him as we wait to spend eternity with Him, how we interact with others will begin to be the overflow of our hearts. No material possession or temporary gift can rob us of WHO lives in our hearts and lovingly cares for us. The enemy might bring affliction, loss, and live up to his mission of 'killing, stealing and thieving' (as God allows), but the absence of 'things' shouldn't halt the singing of our hearts. May your trials, issues and affliction, however, reveal the true joy that lies deep within. And maybe, like the Grinch, this holiday season will remind you of or reveal to you that...

"..Christmas," ... "doesn't come from a store. 
...Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!"
~Dr. Seuss "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"

{Proverbs 17:1; Romans 8:38-39}