Security

Growing up in the earlier days of television — before videos, cable, and then streaming pretty much turned it all on its head — you would learn patience by having to wait for the annual showing of some of your favorite shows. These were quite simply major events when they came on. You had your annual broadcast of such movies as The Wizard of Oz, or Ben Hur, or Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. For some reason, I lump the movie Born Free in there too.

And then of course, the shorter shows — It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is one of the best. But those shorter shows really took off around Christmas. Frosty the Snowman and the gold standard Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer stand out. And A Charlie Brown Christmas.

To me, one particular segment in A Charlie Brown Christmas stands out — Linus’s speech. It’s not that it would be banned today or anything crazy like that, but it’s just that it would be so foreign to so many more people. Why would this kid walk out on stage and say these things?

Well, it’s because it really is what Christmas is about. And some people actually still believe that and celebrate it.

There’s a certain subtle moment in the video below that is quite meaningful but often missed. If anyone knows LInus, they know about his security blanket. They know he can’t bear to be apart from it. And yet, with the words, “Fear not,” he lets it fall to the floor.

Truth.