Like almost everyone else, at this time of the year, my ears are filled with the melodies and songs of the Season. Nearly every local and regional radio station began to play these song WELL before the day of Thanksgiving.
The majority of the Holiday melodies streaming through the airwaves are those recorded many years ago…some of them surpass the years, and their initial presence was several DECADES ago!
Many of the older melodies served as emotional support items…helping to bolster our Nation’s People during the trying years of the Second World War. The turmoil and possible despair of that era was, indeed, something that required considerable effort to deal with, and to, hopefully, overcome.
Songs such as “I’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS” became favorites of innumerable members of our Nation’s Armed Forces during the war years. (In fact, on a personal level, I still remember that this song was my Dad’s Christmas favorite…one which bought my Mom to tears whenever she heard it being sung) -
“I’ll be home for Christmas
You can plan on me
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents by the tree
Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love light gleams
I’ll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams”
Each of these precious musical memories has conquered the “Test of Time,” and has enriched our Lives even today.
Who, among the listeners, can fail to reminisce when hearing the voices of Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Dean Martin, Judy Garland, Burl Ives, Johnny Mathis…and many, MANY others?
THAT’S NOT ALL
While listening to a pre-Holiday broadcast while driving the other day, my mind overflowed with memories from my own Past…not only with the melodies, but also with the memories of the “Big Tube,” the television shows which filled the screens of innumerable households during this Season.
Who can recall sitting in the Family living room with their parents while watching a Holiday Special on the black and white tube of the T.V. set? I KNOW I CAN!
Undeniably, those “Specials” which filled our eyes over the many years beginning in the late 1940’s and throughout the succeeding years, were the natural spin-offs of the melodies sung by several of the musical artists I have mentioned.
As the years progressed, and animation became a popular form of entertainment, the Holiday television specials took the form of lengthy cartoons.
Among the most popular of these broadcasts were: RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER, and FROSTY THE SNOWMAN.
As this form became more and more popular, we were entertained with broadcasts such as MR. MAGOO’S CHRISTMAS CAROL, and, of course, who could forget HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS?!?
WOW!!!
My curiosity was MORE than aroused with the memories which flooded my mind.
Arriving back home later that same day, I Googled the term “Christmas Specials.” I was immediately led to the site entitled WIKIPEDIA…a site famous for providing information and lists of results pertaining to the item being searched.
WHOAAA!!! The WIKIPEDIA site listed page after page, after page of hundreds of Christmas/Holiday specials which have graced us since the first half of the Twentieth Century. As I scrolled through the many listings, I stopped when my eyes beheld a listing of an animated special still with us today: A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS! The listing stated that:
“A Charlie Brown Christmas is a 1965 animated television special, and is the first TV special based on the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. Produced by Lee Mendelson and directed by Bill Melendez, the program made its debut on CBS on December 9, 1965. In this special, Charlie Brown finds himself depressed despite the onset of the cheerful holiday season. Lucy suggests he direct a neighborhood Christmas play, but his best efforts are ignored and mocked by his peers. After Linus tells Charlie Brown about the true meaning of Christmas, Charlie Brown cheers up, and the Peanuts gang unites to celebrate the Christmas season.”
HMMM…1965…HMMM!
SO…what was going on in 1965? Oh, that’s right! Viet Nam…
In mid-February, without public announcement, the United States began a campaign of sustained air strikes against the North that were code-named Rolling Thunder. In March 1965 U.S. Marines landed at DaNang, South Vietnam, and regular troops of the North Vietnamese Army continued to infiltrate into the South.
The War in Viet Nam lasted many years. It had a VERY profound effect upon our Nation and all of its People. This was an era in which most of America experienced turmoil, desperation, and loss.
Sound familiar???
Not unlike what we as a People, a Nation, and a Planet are experiencing in 2020, the era of the mid 1960’s and early 1970’s was an era beset by despair.
So…what did Charles Schultz have in mind when he created “A Charlie Brown Christmas?” What did the voices singing the Holiday melodies throughout the war years and beyond have in mind?
I think I can guess.
The true intent lies within the words which the character, Linus, speaks to Charlie Brown in the animated special:
“For behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great Joy, which shall be to all People. ..and, on Earth…Peace, Good Will to men.”
In Times of darkness, remember the lyrics to ALL those incredibly beautiful Holiday melodies.
Remember the Joy experienced while viewing all those wonderful television specials.
Remember the words of Linus.
AND remember this…
In this Time of Turmoil, this Time when the mists of Darkness tend to surround each of us in some particular fashion, we must know that in the midst of that Darkness is the Light we seek.
That Light emanates from our heart, our Spirit, and the Conviction in ourselves.
In the words written so long ago by Sir Francis Bacon, lies the answer…
In order for the Light
to shine so brightly,
the Darkness must be present.
In the right Light,
at the right Time,
everything is extraordinary.
Your Path is illuminated by the Light…
yet Darkness lets the Stars shine bright.
YOU ARE THAT BEACON OF LIGHT!
Tune-In, listen to the songs…watch the specials…then, SHINE ON!
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