Lessons from the classics... old and new

published December 16, 2010

in the Stockton Sentinel, 

Stockton, Kansas

Is there more to Rudolph than a shiny red nose? Have you ever felt like a George Bailey? Do you work for a Scrooge? Got a Grinch in your family whose heart is two sizes too small? There are a lot of life lessons in these old Christmas classics, but we've seen the movies and heard the stories so many times, we may not take them seriously anymore. 

Take Rudolph, for example. You know, Santa's "Red-Nosed Reindeer." He was different and downright odd -- an obnoxious outcast. Behind his back, he was talked about and made fun of. He was defective. No one wanted to be seen with him or include him in their group. Do you know anyone who fits that description? 

And then there's George Bailey in the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life." George lived in the small town of Bedford Falls, and worked as a savings-and-loan manager, a job he felt was insignificant. He viewed other peoples' jobs as more glamorous than his. While others were out making meaningful contributions to society, George thought he was stuck in a rut that was leading nowhere. Who of us hasn't at some time in our life found ourselves in that same situation?

Ebenezer Scrooge cared about one thing only: money. Living without friends, disowning his only living relative, Scrooge treated everyone with contempt. And when it came to Christmas, he really went out of his way to be miserable and take everyone else down with him.

And the Grinch? Well, "every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville, did not. The Grinch hated Christmas -- the whole Christmas season. Oh, please don't ask why, no one quite knows the reason. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. It could be that his head wasn't screwed on just right."

We attended our granddaughters' Christmas concert last Sunday afternoon at St. Mary's School in Ellis. The part of the program presented by the kindergarten through 2nd-grade was about an elf impersonator who wore strange clothes, had a weird hair-do, talked funny and sang with a twang. "Elfis" was in the building! Santa's elves didn't want to accept this new elf because he just didn't fit in, and they had plenty of reasons why. But then Santa's reindeer reminded the elves that their own acceptance of Rudolph had worked out okay, and Mrs. Claus scolded the elves, and got them to see it was better to work together and learn to accept others, regardless of how they look on the outside. And so in the end, they agreed it was better "not to do harm, but to walk arm in arm."

The lessons in these classics are all very clear, we just need to be quiet, and take time to hear; for Rudolph, and Bailey, the Grinch and the Whos, Ebenezer and Elfis all had plenty to lose. In each story, I believe, among all the fuss, we see people we know, we may even see us. When each character becomes real, and every line spoken, true, then the ending brings hope for me and for you.