Jonathots Daily Blog
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I read it over twice just to make sure.
But even with this double scrutiny, I was unable to find the mention of any children in the original Christmas story, except for one baby born in a manger.
The tale contains a king, three astrologers from Mesopotamia, shepherds, a confused purported virgin, a bewildered carpenter-in-training, a prophet and a prophetess, a greedy innkeeper, and many souls who were finding their situation quite taxing.
But there was no one under the age of fifteen who was mentioned except the little fella with straw for a pillow.
Yet today you would assume that Christmas was conceived in the minds of the Madison Avenue elite, who were desiring to come up with a holiday that focused on “tots before they were teens.”
Politics loves this populie, because it provides new stumping ground extolling the family and high-sounding ideals.
The entertainment industry certainly focuses on kids because it frees them from having to put a spiritual spin on December 25th, but instead, advertises Santa Claus, candy canes and overgrown elves.
And religion can barely contain itself, trying to yank that baby out of the wooden cradle and on to the cross as quickly as possible.
In the meantime, the significance of “peace on Earth, good will toward men” dissipates into the background in favor of sitting back in our easy chairs, shaking our heads in awe as the youngsters rip open their presents.
Attention one and all: Christmas is for us. It may be our only chance.
It offers three very important possibilities which tend to escape us by the middle of January, and certainly have run away in horror by April 15th, when the IRS drains our sensibilities.
1. We are all the children of God.
If Christmas is for children, it is only because we live in the household of “Our Father which art in heaven.” We have lost our innocence. We favor a jaded outlook. We have resigned our place in the human family, running away to live in an orphanage, simply to make ourselves seem abandoned.
2. Children need to be taught.
For a very brief moment, we begin to look at the Jesus-born-in-the-manger as the life coach he was intended to be instead of the human sacrifice we have thrust upon him. After all, the angels foretold of “peace on Earth, good will toward men,” not a sacrificial blood-bath that ends up with us forming religious institutions with dark, dank corridors.
3. Going forward means going back to pick up what we lost.
There is nothing more precious than being nine years old on Christmas morning. To reject that memory as being idealistic, foolish or silly is to lose one’s soul before dying.
It’s not so much that “Christmas should be in our hearts each and every day of the year” as it is that our hearts should never surrender Christmas and the memories that make us chill with anticipation.
Bluntly, if you’re not excited about what’s going to happen next, you need to change what’s next.
So be careful with the populie that says “Christmas is for children,” because you soon will find yourself angry at the holiday, and also at the little fellows and ladies who keep trying to hang the holly and trim the tree.
It is only true that Christmas is for children as long as we understand that to gain a true spiritual and emotional sensibility… we must all become as a little child.
The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this wonderful, inspirational opportunity
Please contact Jonathan’s agent, Jackie Barnett, at (615) 481-1474, for information about scheduling.
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Check out Mr. Kringle’s Tales…26 Stories’Til Christmas
The Best Christmas Stories You’ll Ever Read!
Click on Santa to browse “Mr. Kringle’s Tales … 26 Stories Til Christmas”
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