PHOTO: ©THURID EMS/WESTEND61/CORBIS
Many writers and commentators, from Washington Irving to Garrison Keillor, remind us that the spirit of Christmas is a glorious and multifaceted thing.
OR MANY PEOPLE, the Christmas sea- son is filled with
family, close friends, and good
cheer. Unfortunately, in recent times, the commercialization of the holiday has made the season a highly pres- surized affair during which some people feel compelled to spend too much time and too much money try- ing to get the right gifts for family and friends instead of appreciating all aspects of the spirit of the season. Although shopping and appropri- ate gift giving—giving gifts with love and to show love—are definitely a part of Christmas, they are not all there is to the holiday. Christmas also has to do with children and family, being home for the holidays, heart and love, compassion, charity, memo- ries, and symbols like Christmas trees. Many writers and other commen- tators have tried to remind us of all of these things. From Washington Irv- ing to Erma Bombeck, these individu- als have much to teach us about the spirit of Christmas, and their thoughts
34 Glenn Liebman
are so true and so touching that they will warm even the most jaded of hearts at Christmastime.
Children and Family
u Erma Bombeck, shown here in her home office, has spoken movingly of the meaning of Christmas to children by addressing the adult’s inevitable loss of a child’s relationship to the holiday. PHOTO: ©LOUIE PSIHOYOS/CORBIS
Often, when people think of the Christmas season, some of their first thoughts are about children or their own childhood, and one of the beauti- ful things about Christmas is that it lets adults become children again. Laura Ingalls Wilder, the author of the famous “Little House” series of books, understood this well, saying, “[W]e are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.” Author Joan Winmill Brown understood this, too, saying, “[W]hen Christmas day comes there is still the same warm feeling we had as children, the same warmth that enfolds our hearts and our homes.” And in a hymn he once wrote, Bishop Phillips Brooks connected this phe- nomenon to the earth itself, writing the following lines: “The earth has grown old with its burden of care / But
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