Movies during the holidays

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Harold Von De Bur
  • 932nd Chaplain's Office
Christmas time is my favorite
movie season. 

There are so many classic movies
that never fail to touch something
deep inside of me. Irving Berlin's "White
Christmas" and Frank Capra's "It's A
Wonderful Life" are treasures to be
watched at least once if not twice, not
to mention all of the great animated specials.
Dickens' "A Christmas Carol,"
however, was never, until recently, one
of my favorites. 

It took me many years
to wrap myself around Mr. Scrooge
and his transformation from bitter curmudgeon
to a happy and joyful human
being. At the end, Dickens said of
Scrooge, "that he knew how to keep
Christmas well..." And I had to ponder-
what is the difference between celebrating
Christmas and keeping Christmas
well? 

A celebration is a short-term event,
usually lasting from a day to a couple of
weeks at the most. Then it's over and
the decorations, the sentiments, and the
reason for the festivities are gone until
next year. 

Scrooge, however, learned to
"keep Christmas." That implies that it
didn't get put away on Dec. 26or27,
not even on Jan. 6. Old Scrooge helped
people, smiled, was friendly and, in general,
became a person that went from
hating everyone to loving everyone.
Are we willing to 'keep Christmas'? 

Are we willing to remember that
care and concern for others needs to
happen every day? To remember that
we probably don't know all of the issues
other people are coping with? Are
we willing to put the needs of others
before our wants and needs; to try and
understand the wants and needs of our
families without having them tell us? To
believe that love is stronger than hate,
apathy, evil, and death, and by practicing
love, we can bring a little more
brightness into the world we live in and
share with others. 

If we can do these things then we
can "keep Christmas." If we can do
these things for a day, why not a week,
a month, or all year round? 

As it was with Scrooge, so may it
be with us-and in the immortal words
of Tiny Tim, "May God bless us, every
one."