https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/just-drop-the-blanket/
This month “A
Charlie Brown Christmas” aired on national primetime television for the 50th
time. In a world where the latest greatest technology is outdated in a matter
of months, and social media trends come and go in a matter of days, 50 years of
anything becomes quite meaningful.
I am a fan of all
things nostalgic and all things Christmas, and so when the two are combined I
am hooked. The Charlie Brown Christmas special falls squarely into that
category.
I was in the first
grade back when they still performed Christmas pageants in schools (less than
50 years, but still a very long time ago), and our class performed a version of
the Charlie Brown Christmas. Since I was kind of a bookworm and already had a
blue blanket, I was chosen to play the part of Linus. As Linus, I
memorized Luke 2:8–14, and that Scripture has been hidden in my heart ever
since.
8 And in the
same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their
flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them,
and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with
great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I
bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto
you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the
Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a
baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And
suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
But while working
so diligently to learn those lines, there is one important thing I didn’t
notice then, and didn’t notice until now.
Right in the middle
of speaking, Linus drops the blanket.
Charlie Brown is
best known for his uniquely striped shirt, and Linus is most associated with
his ever-present security blanket. Throughout the story of Peanuts; Lucy,
Snoopy, Sally, and others all work to no avail to separate Linus from his
blanket. And even though his security blanket remains a major source of
ridicule for the otherwise mature and thoughtful Linus, he simply refuses to
give it up.
Until this
moment. When he simply drops it.
In that climactic
scene when Linus shares what “Christmas is all about,” he drops his
security blanket, and I am now convinced that this is intentional. Most telling
is the specific moment he drops it: when he utters the words “fear not.”
Looking at it now,
it’s pretty clear what Charles Schulz was saying through this, and it’s so
simple it’s brilliant.
The birth of Jesus
separates us from our fears.
The birth of Jesus
frees us from the habits we are unable (or unwilling) to break ourselves.
The birth of Jesus
allows us to simply drop the false security we have been grasping so tightly,
and learn to trust and cling to him instead.
The world can be a
scary place, and most of us find ourselves grasping to something temporal for
security, whatever that thing may be. Essentially, it is a world in which
it is very difficult for us to “fear not.”
But in the midst of
fear and insecurity, this simple cartoon image from 1965 continues to live on as an
inspiration for us to seek true peace and true security in the one place
it has always been and can always still be found.
