Rev. Michael Carl
When I was a kid, I looked forward to Sundays.
Yes, that means I looked forward to going to church, but it also means I looked forward to going home after church and opening up the Sunday comics.
Since my parents subscribed to both of Houston, Texas’ daily newspapers, that means I had two comic sections, eight pages each, and full of complete, four-colour drawings. I remember liking the Houston Chronicle the best because it’s the paper that carried Peanuts.
Once we arrived home, I would dive into the paper, reading, poring over and digesting the chuckles, laughs and the subtle messages.
In the sixties and seventies, comics had messages, but they were based upon our human nature. They were larger than life caricatures of people’s behaviour, with all its faults and foibles.
These were still golden days for the comics. There were the classics: the original Blondie, Snuffy Smith, Li’l Abner, the old Beetle Bailey, Hi and Lois, Nancy, and of course, Peanuts. The Sunday papers even ran Prince Valiant, Mary Worth, Ferdinand, and Superman.
Comics back then didn’t have too many overtly political messages and the jokes didn’t depend on savage brutality, anger, revenge, bitterness or our baser natures.
The drawings were beautiful. The Sunday comics were genuinely works of art. They were, or so we thought, permanent mainstays of Americana. The larger, readable panels were almost like Monet paintings on newsprint.
Those days are unfortunately gone. Today’s Sunday comic sections been reduced to barely four pages and in most cases, the panels have been so reduced in size that they’re barely legible.
The quality of the material has gone down too. The humour is base and crude. Sometimes the punch lines are so coarse and offensive that I hesitate to try to explain them to anyone.
Such is the case of American culture. We’ve stamped out the best and embraced minimalism as a way of life.
So what does all of this have to do with Christmas? I admit that the connection here is tenuous at best. Yet, we’ve allowed the media moguls and the power brokers to do with Christmas what they’ve done to the Sunday funnies. They’ve squeezed, trivialized and reduced the birth of our Saviour to a mere marketing gimmick.
Everywhere you go, we hear Christmas music, but sometimes it’s “White Christmas”, “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”, and “Winter Wonderland”. Admittedly a few of the traditional carols have made it back on the rotation, but only because Christians have been willing to push back against the tide of minimalism.
Yes, times change. Financial concerns, space requirements, the demands for profits, and a shrinking readership have forced newspaper companies to push the most artistic part of the paper into a corner.
Yet, sometimes change isn’t for the better, especially if a great American art form is the casualty.
Still, be of good cheer. While art may be temporary, Jesus is forever. The celebration of His birth is not a consumer commodity. The public holiday is an observance of a holy day. The real celebration of His birthday doesn’t depend on consumer demand, space requirements and ad revenues.
Jesus came into our world to give us a bigger perspective. He came to give us a peek into the eternal. He came to remedy human faults and our ever-shifting whims.
Jesus can give us eternal life and a renewed perspective because He Himself is eternal.
Remember that while creativity may be divinely inspired, our public displays through the arts may be temporary.
Jesus is forever! The new life He gives is also forever!
So, Merry Christmas everyone!
