{"id":2197,"date":"2022-12-07T10:44:58","date_gmt":"2022-12-07T15:44:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=2197"},"modified":"2022-12-07T10:44:58","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T15:44:58","slug":"a-charlie-brown-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2022\/12\/07\/a-charlie-brown-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"A Charlie Brown Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>.
\u00a0
Throughout the season of Advent \u2013 which this year encompasses the four weeks leading up to December 25 \u2013 we\u2019re looking at classic Christmas movies and how they might connect us to the miracle of God choosing to become a human being.<\/em>
\u00a0
Before December 1965, no one had ever seen anything quite like A Charlie Brown Christmas<\/em>.
\u00a0
It wasn\u2019t really a movie.\u00a0 The execs at CBS advertised it as a \u201cTV special\u201d \u2013 a 30-minute animated story that featured the familiar characters populating Charles M. Schulz\u2019s Peanuts <\/em>comic strip.\u00a0
\u00a0
It wasn\u2019t flashy.\u00a0 In fact, it appeared to be crudely drawn.\u00a0 For the first time ever, children (instead of adults) would provide the characters\u2019 voices.\u00a0 Instead of a laugh track, there would be music.\u00a0 And not the kind of music \u201cregular” people\u00a0listened to.\u00a0 It would be jazz<\/em>, of all things – funky renditions of traditional Christmas songs, along with original compositions by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. \u00a0
\u00a0
The animation team finished the project just 10 days before the scheduled December 9 debut.\u00a0 They feared they had a disaster on their hands.\u00a0 After director Bill Melendez watched a preview for the first time, he sighed in despair, \u201cMy golly, we\u2019ve killed it.\u201d\u00a0 Everyone agreed that if CBS hadn\u2019t already advertised the show, it might have been canceled on the spot.\u00a0 One of the animators, however, was more hopeful.\u00a0 Ed Leavitt predicted, \u201cThis show is going to run for a hundred years.\u201d
\u00a0
Leavitt was on to something.\u00a0 A Charlie Brown Christmas<\/em> was a hit with critics and audiences alike.\u00a0 It has so far been broadcast 57 consecutive Decembers. \u00a0Now the property of Apple TV+, you can still watch it for free \u2013 without subscribing to Apple\u2019s streaming service \u2013 any time this year between December 22 and Christmas Day.\u00a0
\u00a0
As the show opens, chronically depressed Charlie Brown is struggling to feel joy at the approach of the holidays. \u00a0Lucy prompts him to put together a Christmas play.\u00a0 Per usual, however, everything seems to go wrong.\u00a0 The other kids make fun of him.\u00a0 Even Snoopy laughs derisively, especially when Charlie decides to decorate the stage with the world\u2019s scrawniest Christmas tree.\u00a0 \u00a0
\u00a0
Overwhelmed by the cynicism and commercialism he sees wherever he looks, an exasperated Charlie Brown asks if anyone knows the real meaning of Christmas.
\u00a0
Here is where the show really shines.
\u00a0
In the mid-60\u2019s, religion was a subject no prime time network TV program dared to touch. \u00a0Schulz, however, wanted Charlie\u2019s friend Linus to recite a passage from the Bible.\u00a0 Melendez and producer Lee Mendelson tried to talk him into rewriting the scene.\u00a0 Did Americans really want to hear Scripture\u00a0from cartoon characters?\u00a0 Schulz stood fast.\u00a0 \u201cIf we don\u2019t do it, who will?\u201d


Schulz\u2019 counter-cultural intuitions proved to be spot-on.\u00a0
\u00a0\u00a0
Linus steps forward, walks to center stage, asks for lights, and recites from memory the King James Version of Luke 2:8-14, the encounter of the angels with the shepherds just outside Bethlehem.
\u00a0
Then Schulz springs one more surprise. \u00a0It\u2019s easy to overlook.\u00a0 At the very moment that Linus quotes the angel saying, \u201cFear not,\u201d he lets go of his security blanket.\u00a0 As any fan of Peanuts<\/em> can tell you, this is just about the bravest thing Linus has ever done.\u00a0 Check out the scene for yourself:\u00a0 What Christmas is All About – A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) – YouTube<\/a>
\u00a0
So what\u2019s your security blanket?\u00a0 What are you holding on to at all costs, that something <\/em>you keep hoping is going to make your life safe and meaningful?
\u00a0
You know what it is.
\u00a0
Maybe it\u2019s your savings\u00a0account.\u00a0 Or your reputation.\u00a0 Or your kids\u2019 accomplishments.\u00a0 Or the fact that everyone remembered you at your high school reunion.\u00a0 Or your dream that life simply has to turn out a certain way.\u00a0 We don\u2019t release such things easily.\u00a0 There’s a reason “don’t be afraid” is the most frequent command in the Bible.
\u00a0
Choose to be brave this Christmas.\u00a0 Choose to believe the angels.
\u00a0
Don\u2019t be afraid.\u00a0 Drop your security blanket.\u00a0 Trust God instead.\u00a0<\/em>

That\u2019s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here.\u00a0Throughout the season of Advent \u2013 which this year encompasses the four weeks leading up to December 25 \u2013 we\u2019re looking at classic Christmas movies and how they might connect us to the miracle of God choosing to become a human being.\u00a0Before December 1965, no one had ever seen anything quite like… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2198,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[539,132],"class_list":["post-2197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christmas-movies","tag-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2197"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2199,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2197\/revisions\/2199"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}