Classics

"And all over the world, the old literature, the popular literature, is the same. It consists of very dignified sorrow and very undignified fun. Its sad tales are of broken hearts; its happy tales are of broken heads." GKC

We were watching a Christmas special - a remake - the other day.

We turned it off long before it ended.

And a day later, my wife was watching another special.

She turned that one off, also.

Now, as anyone who knows me will tell you, I am a big fan of Christmas.

But what I love is the true spirit of Christmas. The love. The gift. The foreshadowing of sacrifice.

The joy.

Each generation tries to give its own spin to Christmas - at least what it can understand of it.

Sometimes the truth is enough to overcome the modern spin. Sometimes not (as in the caes of these two specials).

Ah, but then there are the classics. They let the truth of Christmas hold sway. So we return to them again and again.

"The great majority of people will go on observing forms that cannot be explained; they will keep Christmas Day with Christmas gifts and Christmas benedictions; they will continue to do it; and some day suddenly wake up and discover why."

God bless us, everyone.