Skip to main content

What Christmas is All About

Ok, I must be getting older. No Norelco commercials this Christmas season, strangely enough, I miss them. Have you noticed how fast time flies as you get up in years? Wasn’t it just a moment ago that we were seated around our Thanksgiving table enjoying family, friends, and the feast Lori so lovingly prepares for us each year; it sure seems like it. Or was that last year? It's obvious I've totally lost track of time. It's already Christmas Eve and Yes, “Christmas - is - just around the corner.” Admit it, growing up you heard that phrase all the time - well, I did anyway.

Those commercials, along with the Coca-Cola Santa, always graced the television airwaves at Christmas time, not anymore. Now Santa is trying to sell you a luxury sports car.

 As a youngster I was convinced - just around the corner - meant Main Street; Marshall’s Hardware - Santa Land. My brothers and I would make the short trip to town to see all the holiday decorations and toys we wanted Santa to bring. There was no Christmas tree lot that I can remember in Cuba. We had one of those fake aluminum trees, no needles, no sap, and no mess. Waiting for Christmas, seemed like an eternity. Today, just around the corner means; in the blink of an eye, the holidays will have come and gone.

 The toys have morphed somehow, instead of a Red Rider Daisy BB gun, now its electronic gadgets, jewelry, tools, clothes, iTunes gift cards, iPads, Smartphones, and home repair items. Whatever happened to those commercials with Santa cruising down the snow-filled slopes on his triple-head Norelco electric shaver? YouTube - of course.

Come to think of it, how would Charles Schulz have written A Charlie Brown Christmas today? “I suggest we try those searchlights (Google), Charlie Brown,” would have led Charlie Brown and Linus to The Home Depot tree lot with its woven wire fence, trees wrapped in netting and the sweet smell of freshly cut trunks as trees are trimmed for customers. I haven’t seen a “Great big shiny aluminum Christmas tree” - in years, have you?

It’s hard to believe that the program first aired when I was nine years old - Christmas 1965. It’s still one of my favorite holiday programs and I make it a point to watch it every year. Indeed, today, Linus would have launched the Home Depot app on his smartphone to check price and availability between the large home centers before leaving the auditorium. And, walk to the tree lot - are you kidding - he would have texted his mother to bring the SUV; even though the nearest home center is less than three blocks from most people's houses.

 Things have changed a lot over the years but the commercialism that Schultz and others portrayed still exists today more than ever. Now the statement, “Christmas is just around the corner.” is accompanied by “Have you finished your Christmas shopping?” – No, have you?

Yes, Christmas - is - just around the corner; if you still think it’s about shopping till you’re broke, think again. Please take some time this holiday season and listen to Linus’s melodic voice as he recites from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2 verses 8 through 14 from the Authorized King James Version:

 "Lights please."

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and goodwill towards men.”

 . . . “That’s what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown.”
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular of All Time

A Mother’s Day Reflection

With Mother’s Day here and the world bustling with cards, brunches, and busy schedules, I find myself reflecting on something a bit simpler: taking a moment to remember the person who helped shape my earliest sense of home. Mauricette Elaine (Bontemps) Ball. My Mom. We arrived in Cuba after leaving La Rochelle, France, in 1959—a transition whose enormity I only fully appreciate now. My mother, barely in her mid-twenties, stepped into Midwestern life with remarkable courage. Her smile could warm the coldest Illinois morning, and her hugs lingered long after she let go—quiet reminders that you were deeply loved. Born February 16, 1934, the third of four children, she grew up in Nazi-occupied La Rochelle. As kids, we listened wide-eyed to stories of soldiers patrolling her streets and fear shadowing everyday life. Yet she carried none of that darkness forward. What endured was resilience and an unwavering devotion to family—qualities she carried across the Atlantic and planted firmly in C...
1 comment
Read more

Time Travel, Roving Mics, and Muscle Memory

In this episode, the 2026 Sinkankas Symposium. Let’s get one thing straight: I didn’t arrive in a DeLorean. No flux capacitor, no dramatic lightning strike—just a Saturday parking pass and a name badge. And yet, somewhere between the rotunda doors and the first handshake, it happened anyway. This past Saturday, April 25th, I was transported—effortlessly and completely—back in time at the 20th Annual Sinkankas Symposium on the GIA campus in Carlsbad. Walking into that magnificent main campus rotunda early with my colleagues, Paul Mattlin and Glenn Wargo, felt like wrapping myself in a familiar, gem-encrusted blanket. It was less a building, more a family living room where nobody ever really forgets your name. The halls were quiet (a rare and beautiful thing), and the soft echo of our footsteps on the polished floors sounded exactly as I remembered it. For a moment, it wasn’t 2026—it was April 1997, my first time walking onto the beautiful, brand-new GIA campus as Director of Alumni. Som...
Post a Comment
Read more

Freedom 7 - 65th Anniversary

Podcast - Freedom 7; 65th Anniversary . "Man must rise above the Earth - to the top of the atmosphere and beyond - for only thus will he fully understand the world in which he lives." - Socrates, 500 B.C. May 5, 2026, marks the 65th anniversary of Freedom 7's launch. Commander Alan B. Shepard, Jr. became the first American in space. A 15-minute sub-orbital flight, a day for the history books; the entire world was watching. NASA and the world had witnessed many trial runs explode violently on the launch pad. The space program was in its infancy. Unlike today, there were far too many unknowns. This prompted me to pull out one of my favorite books from my office library,  Light This Candle , by Neal Thompson, copyright 2004. Light This Candle is a biography of Alan Shepard, Jr., you won't be able to put down. It's - "Story-telling at its best . . . every page is alive," says David Hartman, U.S Naval Institute. In the opening pages, you read endorsements fr...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ode To Gemology

For over 80 years, students of gemology have struggled with spectrums, bewildered by birefringence, and simply plagued by pleochroism. The following sonnet is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face, a glow to your heart, and a simple reminder that students of life and gemology rediscover nature's gifts every day.  Ode to Gemology , by a GIA on-campus student. Dispersion, fire, adventurescence. Orient, sheen, or iridescence. Refractive index, high or low. The luster should indicate that, you know. Polarization, double or single. What to do now, they intermingle. Pleochroic colors you really should see. Was that only two, or actually three? Birefringence should help you a lot. Use your polarizer and watch the spot. Now, did it jump most on low or high? Sure, you can get it if you really try! Your liquids should be an aid, I think. Does it float, suspend, or slowly sink? Just use your imagination now. (He doesn't see me wiping my brow.) Solid inclusions or only bubbles? Huh, th...
Post a Comment
Read more