Christmas Day is here. Hopefully you, your family, and your friends all had a wonderful Christmas season and received the gifts you expected .. and maybe even a few you didn’t.
The greatest gift, of course, is simply being alive. And after the tension and pressure of this past year, let’s hope we can move into next year alive in a better way, more profound, calmer, and more beautiful.
A year where we slow down, take in every breath of life, and let even the smallest moments feel special and meaningful. Let’s make it the greatest year we possibly can.
And speaking of gifts, I received one of my favorites this Christmas: The Hellfire Man Stranger Things / Masters of the Universe crossover.
It fits perfectly alongside my He-Man collection and reminds me how good it feels to still feel like a kid long after childhood has passed.
For millennia, across the earth, peoples have gazed up at the sky, giving names to the silent stars, and seeing images therein. In their imaginative yearning, they tried to read the future in the heavens, seeking on high for a truth that was absent below amidst their homes. Yet, as if grasping in the dark, they remained lost, confounded by their own oracles. On this night, however, “the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined” (Isaiah9:2).
Behold the star that astonishes the world, a spark newly lit and blazing with life: “To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:11). Into time and space — in our midst — comes the One without whom we would not exist. He who gives his life for us lives among us, illuminating the night with his light of salvation. There is no darkness that this star does not illumine, for by its light all humanity beholds the dawn of a new and eternal life.
It is the birth of Jesus, Emmanuel. In the Son made man, God gives us nothing less than his very self, in order to “redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own” (Titus2:14). Born in the night is the One who redeems us from the night. The hint of the dawning day is no longer to be sought in the distant reaches of the cosmos, but by bending low, in the stable nearby.
The clear sign given to a darkened world is indeed “a Child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12). To find the Savior, one must not gaze upward, but look below: The omnipotence of God shines forth in the powerlessness of a newborn; the eloquence of the eternal Word resounds in an infant’s first cry; the holiness of the Spirit gleams in that small body, freshly washed and wrapped in swaddling clothes. The need for care and warmth becomes divine since the Son of the Father shares in history with all his brothers and sisters. The divine light radiating from this Child helps us to recognize humanity in every new life.
To heal our blindness, the Lord chooses to reveal himself in each human being, who reflect his true image, according to a plan of love begun at the creation of the world. As long as the night of error obscures this providential truth, then “there is no room for others either, for children, for the poor, for the stranger” (Benedict XVI, Homily, Christmas Mass during the night, Dec. 24, 2012).
These words of Pope Benedict XVI remain a timely reminder that on earth, there is no room for God if there is no room for the human person. To refuse one is to refuse the other. Yet where there is room for the human person, there is room for God; even a stable can become more sacred than a temple and the womb of the Virgin Mary become the Ark of the New Covenant.
Let us marvel, dear brothers and sisters, at the wisdom of Christmas. In the Child Jesus, God gives the world a new life: his own, offered for all. He does not give us a clever solution to every problem, but a love story that draws us in. In response to the expectations of peoples, he sends a Child to be a word of hope. In the face of the suffering of the poor, he sends One who is defenseless to be the strength to rise again. Before violence and oppression, he kindles a gentle light that illumines with salvation all the children of this world. As St. Augustine observed, “human pride weighed you down so heavily that only divine humility could raise you up again” (St. Augustine, Sermon 188, III, 3). While a distorted economy leads us to treat human beings as mere merchandise, God becomes like us, revealing the infinite dignity of every person. While humanity seeks to become “god” in order to dominate others, God chooses to become man in order to free us from every form of slavery. Will this love be enough to change our history?
The answer will come as soon as we wake up from a deadly night into the light of new life, and, like the shepherds, contemplate the Child Jesus. Above the stable of Bethlehem, where Mary and Joseph watch over the newborn Child with hearts full of wonder, the starry sky is transformed into “a multitude of the heavenly host” (Luke 2:13). These are unarmed and disarming hosts, for they sing of the glory of God, of which peace on earth is the true manifestation (cf. v. 14). Indeed, in the heart of Christ beats the bond of love that unites heaven and earth, Creator and creatures.
For this reason, exactly one year ago, Pope Francis affirmed that the Nativity of Jesus rekindles in us the “gift and task of bringing hope wherever hope has been lost,” because “with him, joy flourishes; with him, life changes; with him, hope does not disappoint” (Homily, Christmas Mass during the night, Dec. 24, 2024). With these words, the Holy Year began. Now, as the Jubilee draws to a close, Christmas becomes for us a time of gratitude and mission; gratitude for the gift received, and mission to bear witness to it before the world. As the Psalmist sings: “Tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all the peoples” (Psalm 96:2-3).
Brothers and sisters, contemplation of the Word made flesh awakens in the whole Church a new and true proclamation. Let us therefore announce the joy of Christmas, which is a feast of faith, charity and hope. It is a feast of faith, because God becomes man, born of the Virgin. It is a feast of charity, because the gift of the redeeming Son is realized in fraternal self-giving. It is a feast of hope, because the Child Jesus kindles it within us, making us messengers of peace. With these virtues in our hearts, unafraid of the night, we can go forth to meet the dawn of a new day.
And it is a great question.. It got me to thinking, one of the most popular of Christmas stories is one about ghosts visiting a stark capitalist who doesn’t care about a wheelchair-bound boy.. and a cartoon about a blockhead who seems to be disdained by his friends..
Christmas season is supposed to be good. That’s what we’re told, right? The lights, the music, the movies, the scents, the traditions .. all the imagery is designed to make this the “happiest time of the year.” And I don’t want to take away any of that, because those things are good. They’re important and give us something to look forward to while holding the albatross of nostalgia around us.
But at the same time, this is the time of year when the bad things happen too. The life-altering things. The life-changing things. The things that, for some people, make Christmas never quite feel the same again.
A lot of people experience trauma now, during this season. Deaths.. broken pipes.. job loss. It happens in December like clockwork at times.. And it becomes hard to stay positive when pop culture is blasting Christmas songs and holiday cheer straight into your face. I listen to the music too .. even during some of the worst Christmases my family went through, I still played the songs, still tried to find the spirit wherever I could. But when you have kids, you have to keep a sense of normalcy.
You keep the traditions going even when internally you feel like you’re falling apart at the seams.
For me as well, December has become this strange emotional landscape. In all different years, my mom went into a nursing home in December. My dad was hospitalized twice in December. A water system broke in December. A heating system broke in December. My nephew almost died in a hospital in December. There’s more if you have time.. but we will bookmark it there.
But the most mysterious time was December 2013. You also may have had a ‘moment’ like this.
My father was quickly growing very sick at that time, at the time we didn’t know why but it was getting serious.. I walked into the kitchen and saw him, and for whatever reason, my memory of that moment is not normal. The whole room felt white–glowing white. The table looked like it was floating, and I remember trying to hold it down. Yes, this sounds absolutely insane, I know that, and maybe it was stress, or maybe it was a high blood pressure moment, but that’s how I remember it happening.
Eventually my dad was taken to the hospital and my sister has her own strange recollection from the hospital that year during this situation. She swears my father said to her, “You were there,” and insinuated that she was holding death back from taking him. He wouldn’t even agree to emergency surgery unless she promised she would still be there afterward.
And during that entire week, there were so many little things that just didn’t line up with reality as we knew it. My sister always worked Mondays, but somehow this hospital visit seemed to fall on a day she shouldn’t have been working at all .. yet we both remember vividly that she was. Maybe she filled in for someone. Maybe life is a blur when disasters pile up. But it still doesn’t make sense.
The strangest moments came when my father was finally recovering, and I was driving him home from the hospital. My mom said to me on the phone, “Wish upon a star that everything’s okay.” And right then — no lie! A shooting star streaked across the sky in front of me. Sure, it could’ve been coincidence. But it was weird.. really weird.
Then the moment happened that I still cannot explain. As we were driving, we suddenly heard my sister and brother-in-law talking inside the car, through the speakers, even though my phone was not connected to anything and I had not called them (And this is 2013 technology folks) But we heard them. Full conversation. I was so startled I actually called them afterward and told them everything they had been saying.
Right after that, outside the windows, snow was falling. My dad looked at me and said, “This happened before, didn’t it?”
And I looked back at him and said, “Yes. It did.”
There was this deep, unspoken knowing .. the kind of moment you don’t forget .. that somehow, in some way, we had lived that exact scene before. Neither one of us could explain it. We never talked about it ever again. Not once. And now he’s gone. I never asked him what he meant by it. I never explored what I meant by it. Time ran out.
TIME RUNS OUT
That’s the thing: We make Christmas plans, New Year’s plans, life plans, but we run out of time for the things that actually matter.
It’s the typical cliched conversation a the work Christmas party.. We say we’ll have the deep conversations “later.” We say we’ll reconnect “soon.” We say we’ll talk about the mysteries of life “when things calm down.” But life doesn’t work that way.
And maybe that’s what bothers me about this season.. the holiday parties, the work lunches, the happy hours, the shopping that feels half-present and half-numb. We scroll Amazon, clicking nonsense into carts for people who don’t need it. We forget where the car is parked. We forget what we’re even doing in the middle of a store. We’re overwhelmed, distracted and oddly disconnected.
It’s not just that we’re not living in the moment. It feels like we’re living in a different moment than where our feet are standing.
Time just slips and slips and slips. And we don’t even fully realize it until we’ve lost more of it.
Here’s the last thing I want to say, and maybe it’s the most important part of all:
Nobody wants to hear this at a holiday gathering, but we’re all going to exit stage left someday. For good. Not exactly a pleasant conversation starter and for sure a first date ender.. Say that at a Christmas party and you’re worse than Scrooge. But the truth behind it matters: life ends. It’s the one guarantee. And because of that, we should be talking more openly about the things that actually give life meaning.
Seeing a parent pass away changes you. Facing illness changes you. Losing a career and having to suddenly change life during financial personal crisis hurts .. not being able to afford the ‘Christmas cheer’ is haunting.. homelessness… war.. famine.. disease.. All under the bows and wreaths and mistletoe. Now that is often reality that we don’t want to consider..
Watching time run out changes you. Work still has meaning, life still has structure, but you see it differently. You understand what’s real and what’s man-made.
Christmas comes but once a year. Make it the best. It could be your last .. God willing you will have a hundred more.
Same with summer. Same with every moment. You don’t always know what’s going to become a profound memory until years later.
It seems we are all struggling this year to find the Christmas joy.
And if you, reading this, are trying too, you’re not alone. We’re in this together. We’re human. And we’re speaking the quiet part of Christmas out loud.
People can call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for themselves or if they are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support. No matter where you live in the United States, you can reach a trained crisis counselor who can help. If you or someone you know has a mental illness, is struggling emotionally, or has concerns about their mental health, use these resources to find help for yourself, a friend, or a family member: https://go.nih.gov/Fx6cHCZ .
Picture it: November 1984.. Ronald Reagan just won re-election handily.. the nation was fearing a beat in the woods but raising the flag in patriotism… The chill is in the air. Christmas gifts are getting scooped up at those 1980s malls where the speakers are blasting 1980s music at a volume that feels illegal now. And right there, near the food court, near the arcade, you catch a glimpse of the movie times. Because maybe… just maybe… in the middle of the hustle, you’ll buy yourself a break. A breather. One big-screen, Hollywood-ish escape.
In Cressona PA you see Prince and Purple rain.. but there is another one..
Silent Night, Deadly Night.
How bad could it be?
You show up, ready for a cheesy seasonal slasher… and you find out you stand no chance. The movie’s getting pulled. Not “it’s selling out.” Not “we don’t have your showtime.” Pulled, as in: some theaters won’t run it, and the distributor starts backing away like it touched a hot stove.
Because in 1984, people stood their moral ground… and this was a national argument.
What makes it funny (in a dark way) is that today we live in an era where Christmas horror is practically its own aisle. We’ve got full-on gore carnivals, movies that treat the holidays like an excuse to paint the walls. Even Terrifier 3 was out here reminding everyone that December can be a bloodbath if a filmmaker wants it to be.
So in 2025, Silent Night, Deadly Night almost looks… gentle. Like a troublemaker from a different generation.
But in 1984? People didn’t see it as quaint. They saw it as a threat.
When “Killer Santa” hit daytime TV
A big part of this firestorm wasn’t even the movie itself but it was in big part, the marketing.
TriStar ran TV spots that mashed up holiday cheer with the image of a Santa figure doing what Santa is not supposed to do—breaking in, weapon in hand, violence implied. And the big mistake? Those ads didn’t just run late at night for adults. They landed in daytime slots, when kids were watching.
THIS was the ad that ill-fated the film:
That’s the part people forget now: the outrage wasn’t abstract. It was parents seeing the commercial in the middle of normal life and concerned their child saw Santa with an axe.
And then it became organized really fast.
Variety reported protests in Milwaukee from a group calling itself Citizens Against Movie Madness, led by local mothers. The protests spread—New York, the Bronx, Brooklyn—signs and chants and that old-school civic energy that feels almost extinct today. The leader was Kathleen Eberhardt, then 32.
Stations reacted too. According to reporting summarized in Vulture’s deep dive on the controversy, at least some TV outlets moved the commercials to late-night, and others yanked them altogether.
Then the cultural heavyweight moment hit: Siskel and Ebert went after the movie hard on TV, and Gene Siskel aimed directly at the people behind it, calling the profits “blood money.”
Suddenly, the controversy wasn’t a local protest story. It was national, loud, and embarrassing for a “respectable” distributor.
We were even led to believe that a that a Lewisburg woman saw a TV spot for the movie during ‘afternoon cartoon hours.’ She didn’t recall the station.. sounds like an automatic urban legend to me.
In 1980 a movie called CHRISTMAS EVIL featured an ax wielding Santa.. No outrage. But that is because the advertising campaign just was not there like it was for Silent Night Deadly Night..
The other brutal truth: it started dropping at the box office
Now here’s the other piece that matters, and it’s less romantic than the protest narrative:
But it was also facing a huge problem: It was released the SAME WEEKEND as NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, a movie that was more widely accepted and not protested. It was just a child predator with knife fingers. Not Santa.
TriStar publicly started wobbling right around then, talking about whether it would even be “commercially viable” to keep rolling it out.
And once a studio starts speaking in that careful corporate language, you can feel the exit coming.
The pullback was real enough that the Associated Press was describing it bluntly: TriStar was dropping the film from U.S. distribution after protests and poor early earnings.
And one of the protest organizers, Kathleen Eberhardt with Citizens Against Movie Madness, celebrated the decision with the kind of quote that sounds like it belongs in a time capsule: “Wow. I think it’s great.”
The irony: pulling it probably helped create the legend
Here’s what I love about this story, even if the movie itself is… let’s be honest… not exactly Oscar bait.
In 1984, people talked about it like it was the end of civilization. We already had Jason slashing through forests
In 2025, it’s basically a campfire tale about a moral panic—an artifact from a time when Santa still had a kind of cultural protection around him, like you could get grounded just for disrespecting the concept.
And the greatest irony? By pulling it, they may have cemented it.
Because there’s a difference between a throwaway slasher and a forbidden slasher.
If TriStar had just let it play, it might’ve come and gone like a hundred other low-budget horror flicks. But once it became “the movie they tried to stop,” it picked up that outlaw aura. People love a thing more when someone tells them they shouldn’t have it.
And that’s exactly what happened over time.
The film grew into a cult item, spawned sequels, and eventually inspired a remake in 2012 (titled Silent Night) and the newest 2025 incarnation..
So 40 years after the chaos of the citizens against movie madness … angry moms … TV ads during cartoons (it that really even happened), SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT has become an annual Christmas much watch.. not because it is a great movie. But because it is just that bad.
Christmas time is here again. The annual ritual of spending cash you really don’t have. Society expects it!! Get that card out!
Like you, I’m out there right now wandering the stores, scrolling the apps, perusing the malls that still exist and matching the prices up with the Amazon option. I get panicky this time of year because I haven’t purchased much yet. I check my bank account (you do it too), and I realize there just isn’t much time left until the big day … food, medicine? Or Christmas gifts. What do you spend on in December?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9TByT3QlWc
Every year I try to be one of those organized people who gets things done early.. knock a few gifts out in November, finish up the first week of December. Because we all know what happens if you don’t: the Panic Purchases begin.
We’ve all been there. You see nervous husbands frozen in the appliance aisle. You see kids staring at some sad-looking afghan blanket, trying to convince themselves, “Yeah, Mom would probably like that.”
Let’s be honest: most of us already have enough stuff. We don’t really need much of anything on Christmas. But we’ve been programmed for decades to think we have to buy, buy, buy.
So go buy. Be a part of something.. 🙂
As you get older, it actually becomes more fulfilling to buy something for someone else that genuinely makes them smile. The only problem is that we still wait too long to start looking for that “special” thing. So we end up right back in that blender aisle, trying to justify why someone in life might really want to circular-saw their fruits and vegetables into mush all year long.
That’s a different story for a different post. We have digressed too long.
Toy Ad Nostalgia: The Real Christmas Catalog
One of my favorite things about this time of year isn’t the new stuff… it’s the old stuff. Specifically: old Christmas ads. Especially toy ads.
We all feel those toy ads, right?
For me and many, the sweet spot is the late ’80s and early ’90s. That’s when my childhood was starting to age out of toys, but not quite yet. Right before everything shifted into “I just want money” mode. You may be prompted into the inebriation of nostalgia from the 70s, maybe the 50s.. Maybe even the 2010s! Any way you slice it, the same effects on the mind and body occur.
Those were the years when the toy spreads in the Sunday paper or the department store flyers looked absolutely magical:
He-Man figures lined up like plastic warriors
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in all their neon glory
The Nintendo Entertainment System taking over living rooms one cartridge at a time
I remember one of the greatest Christmases of my entire life like it was yesterday. I got:
A Super Mario game for Nintendo
A Batman game for Nintendo
A red bean bag
A blue bean bag
The colors matched Mario. That was it. That was the list. And somehow, that simple combination still stands out in my mind as the Best Christmas Ever™.
Before that, when I was younger, I remember getting Tonka toys—real metal, heavy, practically indestructible. That was also the year Christmas collided with a stomach bug. I spent part of that magical morning sick, but here’s the thing: even with that, the memories still come back warm. A little queasy, but warm.
Old Ads, Old Prices, New Reality
So here’s what I want to do with this post:
I’ve got a couple of old Christmas toy ads I want to share with you. Take a good look at the prices in those ads. The toys, the games, the “big” items.
Below each ad, we’ll break down a few of those prices and talk about what they’d roughly translate to in today’s money. How much would that Nintendo, that action figure set, or that Tonka truck actually cost now if you adjusted it for inflation?
Because back then, a toy that cost $19.99 felt like a big deal. Now we blink at $49.99 like, “Eh, that’s just what stuff costs.”
We used a typical inflation calculator to see what the Nintendo was.. $237 in today’s money. and even in today’s dollars that would be VERY affordable compared to the high priced almost $1000 dollar gaming consoles of today’s gaming market. And you ca n OWN a game then, BATMAN, for 40 bucks.. That would be $96 today. So yes.. we are being taken advantage of in today’s gaming market, right?
But just stop and appreciate that 1990s. That was the year I got the bean bags, BATMAN, and MARIO 3.. life changing childhood moment.
A year before the greatest Christmas ever I most likely before the $3.99 BATMAN action figures.. My parents got me BATMAN and the JOKER and BOB THE GOON. They spent $15 bucks on those, and in today’s money about $11 each. But yet in 2025, action figures in stores are 20 bucks or more… Again, are we being used by corporations?
Kids drooled over the SEGA by 89 as Nintendo faced competition.. It was pricer at $189
So now we are talking bigger money.. that is almost $500 in today’s cash. We are getting closer to the Playstation or xBox..
Ad for the heck of it in 1986 when you may have craved a Wuzzle at the Schuylkill Mall.
$1.99 then! Not even $6 bucks now .. Great deal. I am sure if they were existent today they would be $20 on sale. And if you kept it in a box, you could sell in on eBay TODAY for $99 bucks (according to sell prices), which by the way was $33 bucks in 1986. Reverse.. deflation.. See how that worked?
So money talked.. Money was spent. Bills long paid, or ignored.. We have moved on.
What make it all so special in the past?
Maybe it wasn’t the price. Maybe it was the bean bags. They meant more than anything else..
Today isn’t just St. Nicholas Day, it’s also Krampus Day. And while most people grew up with the warm and fuzzy version of the season, the Alpine regions of Europe made sure kids understood that December wasn’t just cookies and love. There was always a dark and frightening shadow walking beside the saint.
Ole Kramps has long been one of our favorites..
The figure of Krampus goes back centuries.. older, in many ways, than St. Nicholas himself.
While St. Nicholas became part of Christian tradition around the 3rd–4th century, Krampus’ roots run deeper into old pagan winter folklore. These Alpine communities lived through long, brutal winters with darkness stretching hours longer than daylight. They told stories of horned, goat-like creatures roaming the solstice nights.. Imagine living in this darkness …Krampus became sort of a living symbol of winter’s terror.
When Christianity took hold, instead of eliminating those beliefs, it absorbed them. The gentle bishop St. Nicholas became the rewarder of good children, and Krampus became the punisher of the bad ones. A yin and yang. A cosmic seasonal checks-and-balances system.
Some historians even argue the Krampus figure predates St. Nicholas entirely and that he comes from a time when people feared the dark more than anything and needed a creature to explain the shadows that stretched across snow-covered villages. In other words, Krampus wasn’t invented to balance St. Nicholas… St. Nicholas was assigned to balance him.
Growing up in Catholic school, I always loved this day. I thought the old tradition was fun, and honestly, a little weird in the best way. December 5th was when we’d leave our shoes in a hallway, wondering whether St. Nicholas left candy… or if we’d get coal. Bells would ring. Of course we didn’t realize it was school staff. But we got candy. Phew. Crisis averted another year..
Never once did a nun warn us about Krampus dragging us away in a basket, but knowing the folklore now, I appreciate just how bizarre and brilliant these old traditions really were. Kids today think Elf on the Shelf is stressful. Imagine a horned goat-man showing up if you talk back to your parents.
Coke vs. Pepsi… but Make It Krampus
And here’s the fun part: if Santa Claus became the wholesome mascot for Coca-Cola, then Krampus absolutely deserves his own Pepsi campaign. Just imagine it: “Pepsi Krampus: The Choice of a New Generation… of Naughty Kids.”
He’s on a billboard, horns shining, holding a Pepsi can. He’s not leaving the North Pole; he’s leaving bite marks in your gingerbread men. Santa gets the cookies.. Krampus gets the coal-powered energy drink. Fair is fair after all..
We need that balance.. 🙂
People think Halloween is where the spooky season ends.
No. Halloween is merely the kickoff. Ancient folks believed the veil thinned as winter approached, not just on October 31st. November and December were long, dark, terrifying months with barely any light and no modern comforts. Every shadow in the corner of a one-room cabin was a threat. Every gust of wind sounded like something just outside the door.
Krampus isn’t out of place this time of year, he’s exactly what these months used to feel like.
And then comes December 25th it is the “rebirth of the sun.” Or son. The literal lengthening of the days. The symbolic birth of hope in both pagan and Christian traditions. Two belief systems pointing toward the same reality: The darkness finally stops winning.
Krampus ends his reign, St. Nicholas reigns supreme, Jesus is born, and the sun finally begins its slow return.
Halloween is over. The Spirit Halloween stores are packing up, lights going off, signs disappearing, and those empty retail shells will sit silent again… at least until next August when they reawaken like they always do.
But — you might notice something different this year. A few of those locations aren’t going dark. They’re turning into Spirit Christmas. And honestly? That’s kind of amazing.
We’re completely on board with Spirit Halloween existing. It has become a tradition. A yearly pilgrimage. A seasonal personality trait. And if Spirit Christmas wants to step into the game and bring some of that same energy into December, we welcome it. Why not? Let weirdness continue all year long.
We love horror. We love creepy. We love a little darkness mixed into the tinsel and eggnog. But Art the Clown is… let’s just say… a strong choice for holiday cheer. There are plenty of horror icons that blend nicely with Christmas themes — Krampus, Black Christmas, Gremlins, Jack Skellington — but a child-murdering clown who blows up shopping malls might be a bit of a leap for the family fireplace mantel. But hey — to each their own. If you want to deck the halls with decapitation, no one is stopping you.
The reality is that Spirit Christmas will not be nearly as widespread as Spirit Halloween — at least not yet. It’s more of a test run. Only select stores. Only certain markets. But if people show up, if the ugly sweaters sell, if the creepy ornaments fly off shelves… expect this to grow.
And honestly, we’ve always had a soft spot for keeping a little creepy in Christmas. There’s something fun about breaking the overly-sanitized Hallmark version of the holiday and letting the weird spirits in.
So we say:
The more the merrier. Deck the halls. Light your balls. Wear your Terrifier sweater if you dare. Let Christmas get a little strange.
The Annual Charlie Brown Ritual: Reflecting on Tradition and Change..
Every year, many of us partake in the timeless ritual of watching A Charlie Brown Christmas. That animated classic, with its melancholy tone, manages to evoke a sense of nostalgia that feels almost bittersweet.
For decades, people have wondered: what makes this special so enduring? After all, Charlie Brown is often consumed by negativity, struggling to find joy in the Christmas season. It takes Linus dropping his security blanket and delivering a heartfelt monologue about the true meaning of Christmas to momentarily lift Charlie’s spirits. By the end, he’s singing Hark! The Herald Angels Sing with everyone else—but is that truly the resolution?
At its surface, it’s the story of a clumsy kid who’s constantly called a “blockhead” by the very people who are supposed to be his friends. Yet there’s something deeper at play—something that continues to resonate year after year.
x x x
As we grow older, life inevitably changes. Some of you reading this have already felt the sting of those changes: the loss of parents, family members, or friends who were central to your celebrations. Others might not yet have experienced these shifts but will in time.
What often remains constant is the commercialization of Christmas. It taps into our nostalgia, using those warm, familiar memories to encourage us to buy, create, and relive moments that we hope will endure. Coke mastered it..
Yet even commercialization can’t prevent the inevitable: the traditions we hold dear often fade, morph, or disappear altogether. For good sometimes.
For me, A Charlie Brown Christmas endures because it reflects this truth. While the special itself remains unchanged, the way we experience it shifts. The memories it evokes, the people we watch it with, and the traditions surrounding it all evolve.
The reality is, many of the things we cherish about Christmas are fleeting. Traditions we upheld years ago may no longer be possible. Perhaps your family dinner has grown smaller, or the specific dishes you once enjoyed have been replaced. Maybe those once-sacred outings—like Christmas bowling or movie nights—are no longer feasible because those businesses decided not to be open or have shut down altogether..
And then there are the deeply personal losses: parents who once cleaned up the wrapping paper, friends and relatives who were staples of your holiday gatherings but are no longer around. These changes can leave us feeling desolate.. longing for a past that can’t be reclaimed no matter what actions we take.
Even large, tight-knit families that manage to maintain traditions will eventually face change, because change is inevitable. And that inevitability is at the heart of Charlie Brown’s melancholy.
Charlie Brown’s struggle isn’t just about the commercialism of Christmas. It’s about his inability to accept change. He’s searching for something constant, a tradition untouched by time. But as life shifts and evolves, he feels that the magic of the season is slipping away.
The friends who call him a blockhead haven’t yet experienced the losses that he feels so deeply. But one day, they will. Change will touch their lives, too, and they’ll find themselves longing for something they can no longer have.
So, this Christmas, enjoy what you have. Embrace the traditions you partake in this year, knowing that they may not endure. Families come and go. Friends come and go. Traditions come and go. But the moments you create right now are real, and they matter.
This is advice I’m trying to take myself. With both my parents gone and the weight of traumatic events over the past five years, my traditions have changed dramatically. It’s challenging to create new ones for my child while my mind drifts back to the past.
But if Charlie Brown could find joy, even briefly, so can we. Live in the moment. That’s where the magic of Christmas truly lies.
Despite stores closing and online shopping, there sure still seems to be a sufficient amount of old fashioned hustle and bustle this time of year. Surprisingly..
So find your solace and your peace. Take a break and just zone out–if you can.
If Skeletor and He-Man can share a drink, we all can. Apparently Battle Cat didn’t get his ‘service cat’ badge in time for Christmas..
