Christmas Message

Written by Paul Donovan

Mr. Shaugnessy asked if I would write something for Christmas that expressed what I found meaningful at this time of year.  Suggestions such as, “A Christmas Carol” or “It’s a Wonderful Life” were appealing topics to me as they certainly express some of the key values that we remember during the Christmas season.  While I dearly love these films, I somehow feel that the practical realities of life can make their messages a bit surreal.  So, I have decided that “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” would be my focus for this year.

 While it may seem strange to choose a film about a flying reindeer with a glowing red nose as a way of emphasizing the practical realities of life, there is a whole aspect to this story that I think we can often forget, especially during our Christmas celebrations.

As Christmas approached when I was a boy, I loved watching Rudolph, and would invariably find myself in tears over the cruelty of “all of the other reindeer” and even of Rudolph’s own father he when rejected the young reindeer.  Rudolph’s companions in his quest to find a place where he was valued included Hermie, an elf who wanted to be a dentist, and Yukon Cornelius, an odd friendless prospector.  While escaping from the abominable snowman, this odd band of misfits discovered an island inhabited by misfit toys.  Of course the toys felt especially unwanted at Christmas when all the other toys were finding homes where they were loved.

So, why is Rudolph so important to me at Christmas?  Well, Christmas time in my home always included a few people who were not part of my family.  My mother always made a point of inviting friends who had no family to go to and often would invite someone that just wouldn’t be wanted by too many other people.  I remember that when we began this tradition we all argued that Christmas should be a family time and that outsiders would harm the spirit of the season.  In typical fashion my mother taught us the proper spirit and our guests always made the celebrations even more wonderful.  (It’s interesting that these same people ended up at my house on a pretty regular basis – not just Christmas.) That is the message of Rudolph; the misfit toys found homes, Hermie and Yukon saved everyone from the snow monster and even the bad guy was reformed and found a place. Of course, as we all know, Rudolph’s nose became the cause of his fame instead of his derision. 

We are all used to hearing about giving food or money at Christmas and we start to feel good when our checkbooks alleviate our consciences for another year.  But the practical reality of our lives is that there are many around us who do not have a place, do not feel loved or wanted and our checkbooks don’t do much for them.  If we take the time to look around at the people in our lives, maybe even in our own families, who are somehow on the fringe, who may experience a different kind of poverty, and make an effort to reach out to them, we may discover that we are the ones who have grown richer and the abominable snow monsters in our own lives may somehow be reformed.