Christmas Beginnings

From "The Shop Around The Corner" (1940)



There is a great Christmas present to be found in the movie "The Shop Around The Corner" (1940) starring Jimmy Stewart, Margaret Sullivan and Frank Morgan (the wonderful Wizard of Oz) among others.  It tells the story of budding, albeIt confused, love and friendship.  Everything points to a Christmas revelation and does not disappoint. Other movies such as "You've Got Mail" were inspired by the light spirit and good humor of this classic.  The movie is also gives us reason to look more closely at what life is really offering.

We are usually in a hurry or at least transfixed by our daily duties and obligations. There is a whir of activity that sometimes clouds our view and obscures the fact that the most magnificent things are going on right in front of us. The commotion and noise muffle the sweet sound of friendship and even deeper possibilities of relationships. Then comes the Christmas season in which the lights, decorations, generosity of strangers and anticipation of something wonderful surround us and give us pause. Suddenly, we become aware of some of the miracles that have been there all along.

Lonely hearts and missed opportunities can all find healing at Christmas. There is a conspiracy of beginnings that signifies the very message of the season. The world is created anew in the birth of a savior. Kings and shepherds gather together as comrades. The impossible becomes possible. There is no doubt about it. What a great opportunity to look more deeply, listen more closely, and open the gifts in front of us. It must be that the wonderful is coming.

Schemes and Gifts

There is a wonderful story told in a movie called “The Cheaters” in 1945. A wealthy family is having financial difficulty and hatches a plan to gain an inheritance for themselves by hoodwinking a long lost cousin who was the actual recipient. They also scheme to improve their reputation in the community by adopting a “lost man” and bring him to their house for the holidays. They find a news story of a washed-up actor who has attempted to commit suicide and bring him to their home. The actor proves far more than they bargained for and shows them some real truths about giving and living. He discovers the family inheritance plot and reveals the truth through an amazing recital of "A Christmas Carol". The story’s gift is received by the family and everyone is redeemed.

We go to great lengths to make things happen the way that we want. This is not about making simple plans.  It is the process of taking complete control and trying to force an outcome. People manipulate, maneuver and coerce one another in order to achieve their sometimes selfish desires. The result is almost never what was really wanted. Those who have been forced into doing things that they don’t want to do are never very happy participants. Everyone ends up disappointed.

How do we abstain from plotting, scheming and controlling?  The answer is to let go of the notion of outcomes all together.  Examine the motivation behind your wishes and desires, get honest about what you need, know that you are loved and release people from your grips.  There are gifts that will flow to us when we let go and let God.  It is a transforming experience.

Splendid Transformations

From "We're No Angels" (1955)

One of my favorite Christmas movies was out of circulation, or difficult to find, for quite a while.  It was remade in 1989 but failed to inspire or amuse in the way of the 1955 version with Humphrey Bogart.  A favorite line from that 1955 classic is "We'll cut their throats for a Christmas present", Bogie, a convicted forger, remarks laconically. "That might spoil one's belief in Santa Claus." He and his pals, Peter Ustinov and Aldo Ray do no such thing of course.  They soften and somehow are transformed into human angels who save the day for the family that they were going to scam.  This theme of transformation is universally appreciated.

Stories, books and movies about transformation are a hallmark of the holiday season. We are fascinated by the incorrigible criminal who has his heart slowly softened by the people and events that surround him. It is captivating to watch the miserly old recluse become generous and loving. There is nothing funnier or more endearing than the fish-out-of-water finding a place to call home in an environment that had been hostile and unwelcoming. We just love to witness these kinds of changes. They lift us up and give us hope. Perhaps there is something even more compelling.

Rosabeth Moss Kant once said, "A vision is not just a picture of what could be; it is an appeal to our better selves, a call to become something more." It is at the heart of our own journey in life that we would become the ideal person of our dreams. We would love to have a magic wand waved so that our character defects would become opportunities for improvement and then to overcome them in a grand transformation. There might not be a magic wand but there is an illumination to guide us. The love, generosity, kindness and compassion that emerge at Christmas have the power to change us. All we must do is to become willing.

Bringing Glad Tidings

Bob Crachit's Raise from "A Christmas Carol" (1951)

According to the writer of St. Luke's gospel, an angel appears to shepherds at night and said “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people.”  It is difficult to imagine the awe and happiness that they must have experienced.  I watch the 1951 Alastair Sim version of Scrooge, A Christmas Carol every year without fail.  I imagine that the shepherds must have had the same dumbfounded expression on their faces that Bob Crachit had when his boss, Scrooge the miser, gave him a raise and told him that life was going to be different from that day forward.  What an incredible privilege it is to bring good tidings, to speak well and to carry a message of joy! The changes that such communication brings to the lives of those who receive it are instant and have a lasting impact. And almost everyone will receive it. Most of us are hungry for good tidings and good news. When we hear it our spirits are lifted, we rise from the funk and the day takes on a glow of possibilities. It is hard to be dragged down after heeding a message of joy.  The great change is evidenced in the words of Charles Dickens in the closing of A Christmas Carol when he states "He (Scrooge) became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world."

We all have the opportunity to bring good tidings and spread them wherever we go to whomever we meet. It is just as easy as carrying a downcast, forlorn, morose and melancholy demeanor. We can surprise and delight people with a different message.  We can make the astonishing offer of Scrooge when he says, "I'll raise your salary, and endeavour to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, Bob."  Now is the time to make the change. What is your good word? What do you have to add to the positive flow of life? What personal benediction do you have for your fellow human beings? Find the answer and carry the message! It is Christmas time. Life is good. By the way, it is always good...and always has been!

Pearl Harbor ~ 70 Years Past

USS Arizona Memorial ~ Pearl Harbor

The 70th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack which brought the U.S. into World War Two will take place today - at the exact moment the bombing began.  70 years is a long time.  For those of us who are from the Boom Generation the day defined our childhood.  For our parents generation the day redefind the world as they knew it.  My Dad was listening to The Chicago Bears and Chicago Cardinals play in an NFL season ender that had great implications.  The date that would "live in infamy" was announced and had more significance on the lives of players and listeners than anyone could have imagined.  Dad signed up and served as a Naval Officer in the Marshall Islands at Kwajelin.

1941 Chicago Bears (Most of the team served in WWII after Pearl Harbor)

 
A large ceremony to remember the Americans killed in the devastating attack by Japan will take place at 8am Hawaii time (an hour after this post is being written).  70 years ago Pearl Harbor was hit by hundreds of Japanese fighters, bombers and torpedo planes launched in two waves from aircraft carriers. Four of the eight U.S. Navy battleships at the base were sunk in the surprise assault, as well as several cruisers, destroyers and anti-aircraft ships. The attack was intended as a preventive action in order to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions the Empire of Japan was planning in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States.

The base was attacked by 353 Japanese fighters, bombers and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers. All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four being sunk. All but two of the eight were raised, repaired and returned to service later in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer. One hundred eighty-eight U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,402 Americans were killed and 1,282 wounded. The power station, shipyard, maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the intelligence section) were not attacked. Japanese losses were light: 29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, and 65 servicemen killed or wounded. One Japanese sailor was captured. 

Few of the people who served at Pearl Harbor are alive today.  The Greatest Generation is almost gone and the survivor group that has gathered each year is disbanding after today.  This day has been called Rememberance Day.  Just as an aside...my Dad left the Navy for home on December 7, 1945.  Let us never forget the heroes of Pearl Harbor and World War II.  Thanks for your sacrifice.

Memorial Day

Baum Family Plot, Woodlawn Cemetery, Indianola, Illinois

Memorial Day has always been a day of remembering for me.  My family prepared for the day by decorating the final resting places of loved ones.  Mother and Aunt Helen would split the cost and energy of buying and planting flowers in Indianola, Illinois.  Mom had the sad job of filling the urns and trimming the plot in Spring Hill Cemetery in Danville that had room for many but held only the remains of my sister who died of cancer at age 5.  We visited graves and I heard stories about great grandparents and other relatives that had played important roles in my parent's lives.  Dad might talk some about World War II, but never with many details.  The discussion was mostly about the end of the war, not the horrors of battle. There is a video that is terrific taken of VJ Day, when the Japanese surrendered to Allied Forces in WWII.  It is well worth the watch (be sure to turn up the sound...the link is below the picture)

  VJ Day in Hawaii

The rest of Memorial Day was all about celebration.  School was over.  The swimming pool was open.  There were parades and pony rides for little kids.  The air of every neighborhood smelled of charcoal, hamburgers and hot dogs.  Summer had started.

I think that the whole idea of Memorial Day is about remembering and telling stories.  We will forget about the great lives and sacrifices made if this process is not honored.  Each generation loses something of the one that went before.  That is the way of things.  More is lost, however, if we fail to pass on personal memories of family, friends and life that "used-to-be".  It is a way to connect with our roots and a reminder of who we are.  Moreover, this is an opportunity for coming home.  Our long journey from place to place, person to person and experience to experience, can be tiring and overwhelming.  Memorial Day gives us the chance to return to the familiar.  There might not be a way to physically return to the places that we called home.  We might not be able to visit or decorate the resting place of our ancestors.  But, what a great time to pull out old family photo albums and tell the children and grandchildren about our loved ones who are gone.  Let's spend some good time together by remembering this Memorial Day.

Easter Sunday

There is a most profound question that is raised on Easter Morning.  It is posed by two men in dazzling garments who appear in a tomb, a burial chamber, to people who have come to verify the presence of a corpse.  The shock must have been incredible and the question more than compelling.  They asked, "Why do you seek the living one among the dead?"  This remains as intriguing now as it was two thousand years ago.  There is an empty tomb where we expected an abomination.  There are angels when we anticipated the horrific.  There is new life where we foresaw death.

We are called out of bondage on Easter.  We are called out of our narrow thinking and limited perspective into a new dimension of understanding.  It transcends the boundaries of religion, government and ideas about ourselves.  We are called to a new life without the comfort of "black and white" even to the extent that death is no longer death.  Earthbound eyes can no longer be fully trusted.  The spiritual experience is no longer separate or something that happens outside of us.  We don't have to wait for an apocalypse to find salvation.  The salvation has already been given freely to one and to all.  The kingdom and Easter are within each of us right here...right now.