The most famous Charlie Brown special of all time, A Charlie Brown Christmas, is one that holds a surprising spiritual truth. We all know Linus is the one who sheds light on what Christmas is all about in his famous speech as seen in the video, but what I had never thought about before was the implication of one scene until I saw it on Facebook.
Linus drops the blanket.
Now think about it, how many times had he fought his sister and Snoopy and others about this blanket he carried with him? No one had been able to pry it from him. Even when they made his blanket into a sweater for Charlie Brown, he was unfettered in going after it, snuggling up to it while Charlie Brown was wearing it.
In this one scene where he starts talking about the real meaning of Christmas, he drops his blanket as he is emboldened to share the truth of the gospel of Jesus being born to save us. See that? He dropped what was his prize possession to get to the truth and share it.
In life, what are the blankets we hold onto? Position? Wealth? Popularity? Possessions? Something else? Whatever it is, when it comes to God, we need to drop our banket and step into His truth.
A simple reminder from a scene long ago by a famous artist, with truth for today.
Did Chuck Schultz plan it that way? I think so. He didn't hide his faith. So this symbolic gesture of Linus dropping the banket showed how important the announcement of Jesus' birth was to his audience.
I know in my own life I have had to learn to drop the blanket of... fill in the bank... on different occasions. God is teaching us when we come to these life-shattering moments where we have to decide do we drop the blanket or cling on for dear life?
Where are all of us today? What blankets do we need to drop so God can do more in our lives? What prize possession do we need to let go of today?
