This is a repost from a few years ago…It has become a tradition to post it each year at at Christmas. May you and yours have a Merry Christmas…Praise God for his son Jesus Christ!
I am constantly searching the internet for little gems of knowledge and wisdom that will enrich and encourage us ordinary folks whose frantic pace in this life causes us to rush by without even taking the time to “smell the coffee” so to speak. Well over fifty years ago we were introduced to the world of Charlie Brown. Charles Schultz created a community of loveable misfits each with their own recognizable frailties’ of mind, body and spirit, in which many of us saw a part of ourselves in the characters and took this lovable bunch into our hearts. Unlike some of the modern animated cartoons of this day the brilliance of Charles Shultz shows us our faults in a gentle and endearing way. Charlie Brown also helps us see the real value of community, the need we have for others and the power of a simple love that transcends the norms of this day. Having said all this let me introduce you to a brilliant post of December 14, 2014, by Jason Soroski. I have edited his original post for space requirements and encourage you to go to the posted url to read it as posted. (jasonsoroski.wordpress.com)
Here are some excerpts from that post.
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. 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.
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 is pretty clear what Charles Schultz was saying, 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.
I hope you have enjoyed this post and take Jason Soroski’s advice and “drop the blanket” in the coming new year. Again I encourage you to go to the url posted above and read some more of this gentlemen’s writings and activities.
Life is Good
jk
From The Pew 
Kurt! Merry Christmas! And thank you for this reminder… Immanuel, God with us, the incarnation making it possible to drop our fears because God has become one of us…and thereby, is with us. There’s an extra helpful thing in dropping the blanket too: When our hands are empty of fear, they can be full of what God wants to give us to do for the Kingdom. I have got some things to get done in 2026! & your Xmass post here…was a nice reminder. We really do have Goodnews! Hope you and Pat are surrounded by the love of family, the warmth of friends, and the presence of Immanuel as near the end of Advent…and enter the Christmas season! Your friend- Nathan
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Thank you for the note Nathan. It was really appreciated. I hope and pray that your faith journey is going well. I would say from what I know in the situations that exist in changing denominations or whatever yours was a calling a special calling and I hope that it’s going well for you. I enjoy the fact that you like to go beyond the words surface reading never provides us with a firm foundation for faith or understanding. Have a great new year and blessings to you and your family. Amen.
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Nathan, thank you for your note. It was greatly appreciated. I’ve always felt like the transition that you’ve gone through from one denomination to another was a calling, I am sure the divine guidance has led you to something very special. I’ve always admired the fact that you like to get beyond the words. So much today is no more than just surface reading and I believe that we need to understand what we read and we can only do that with God‘s word when we pray and seek divine wisdom. You and your family have a great new year.
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Kurt, thank you for writing to us faithfully From the Pew. Wishing you and Pat a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!
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Pat, thank you for the note. It was very kind of you. We have some very fond memories of Wesley and the times that you all were there. I hope all is going well for you and your family. The sharing of the word has become an obsession with me and particularly now that I’m in a wheelchair most of the time so my health is good. I just messed my knee up and they can’t fix it. Have a happy new year. Thank you again for the note.
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