I love Christmas television specials and movies. I grew up on shows like “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” My children did too. We still watch them. Okay, I watch them and my children pretend to watch while doing things on their phones or the computer.
Last night as I watched “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” my attention was caught by the explanations of the Grinch’s hatred of Christmas:
“It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.
It could be his head wasn’t screwed on just right.
But I think that the most likely reason of all
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.”
And I wondered if these things might not speak to me, to my own experience of Christmas specifically but the holiday season generally?
Are my shoes too tight? Am I stuck in ways and behaviors that I have – or should have – outgrown? Do my too-small shoes keep me from enjoying and celebrating as I could?
Is my head screwed on just right? (Family and friends are NOT invited to respond to this question.) Are there filters I have that keep me from seeing truly? Are my expectations of others and circumstances – maybe even of God – out of whack?
Is my heart too small? For the Christian, Christmas celebrates Incarnation. The Lord of the Universe was born a human baby – the infinite came on the world stage in the infinitely weak and small. Is my heart big enough to receive and respond to what God has done and continues to do? Is my heart big enough to respond to my family, friends, and neighbors who need love this season?
I am not the Grinch – I love Christmas. But I hope every Christmas I grow a little and that my perspective expands too. Most of all, I hope my heart will grow a size or two this year.