I’m a pessimist

The Christmas season is always one of the greatest times for reflecting. One year is closing quickly while another is just on the horizon. Family and friends gather near. Nothing but Christmas songs are playing on the radio since thanksgiving and Wal-Mart has been filled with red and green tinsel and blowup Santa Clauses since July. I enjoy taking time every year to reflect about which Christmas character I can closest relate to that year. This year is possibly my favorite character that my soul resonates so deeply with. He’s the Christmas character that truly embodies the human condition. He experiences such high mountaintops and yet also goes through a valley of despair. He’s a great saint of the church. Clark Griswold.

The best scene of Christmas Vacation that really captures who Clark is as a man is the night the entire family is having Christmas dinner. The senile grandma says the pledge of allegiance when asked to say grace. Cousin Eddy’s dog, Snots, is throwing up under the table; the turkey is so overcooked it deflates, and the crotchety father-in-law lights the Christmas tree on fire after lighting a cigar. To top the night off, a mail courier comes to deliver Clark’s long anticipated Christmas bonus. Clark had been planning on installing a pool for the whole family. He gathers them around and tells them about the pool plans as he opens his Christmas bonus, which turns out to be a subscription to the jelly of the month club. After which Clark (played by the masterful Chevy Chase) let’s off a string of obscenities only suitable for a late night cable TV station to air. He then goes derailed (to put it mildly) and puts on a Santa hat chases a squirrel around
the house with a crazed smile on his face. What a fantastic movie!!!

That’s my Christmas character this year. I heard a radio interview of a priest yesterday that perfectly described Clark Griswold (and myself). The interviewer asked the priest, “What do you think about the future?” The priest responded, “Well sir, I am a pessimist. And I’m also full of hope.” That sums up Clark throughout the whole movie. He’s deeply pessimistic about his extended family coming to visit, yet always hopeful about pulling off the “perfect” Christmas.

I find myself in a pessimistic place this year. As I gather with my family and close friends on Christmas morning, there will be a few very noticeable empty stockings because of deaths or estranged relationships. There will also be great friends there but one of whom is dealing with cancer this Christmas and seems to get bad report after bad report from the doctor and will spend the rest of the holiday season under going very intense chemo. And to be frank, if that doesn’t work, his will be one of the empty stockings next year. So I’m relating to Clark Griswold as I look around and everything is kind of coming unraveled.

My Grandfather was a preacher. He was preaching a Christmas message once and as a lot of preachers that yell, sweat, and spit tend to do, he got tongue-tied. He said, “And they took Him off the cross and laid Him in a manger.” I like the traditional Christmas verses and Christmas story. I like reading about a newborn baby that will bring peace. I like when the prophet Isaiah says, “And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” I like the Angels and Shepards and Wisemen. I like singing “Silent Night… All is calm, all is bright.” My Grandpa wasn’t too far off. They took Him from the manger and hung Him on a cross. Maybe some Christmas’ it’s important to remember other parts of the story. Like when the Babe of Bethlehem, the Prince of Peace, was hung on a cross. And that’s where the hope for the Perfect Christmas comes in.

Jesus said while on the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” That was His Christmas song. His song of hope. Wait! What? That’s hope? Why have You forsaken me? I’m sure you maybe thinking I’ve dipped into a little too much eggnog. Well I haven’t…yet. When Jesus cried out, He was referencing the Psalms. In the same way, when I said, “Silent Night”, I didn’t have to write out all the lyrics for you to know. I simply said the first line and you took it from there. In the first century, Jews would do the same thing with the Psalms. The Psalms weren’t numbered then so a good Jew would simply say the first lines and everyone would immediately know the whole Psalm, or song. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me” are the opening words to Psalm 22. Psalm 22 ends like this

You who fear the Lord, praise Him;
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel.
For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from him;
But when he cried to Him for help, He heard.
From You comes my praise in the great assembly;
I shall pay my vows before those who fear Him.
The afflicted will eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the Lord.
Let your heart live forever!
All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations will worship before You.
For the kingdom is the Lord’s
And He rules over the nations.

So Jesus was actually crying out “…[I] cried to Him for help, He heard…” In the midst of Jesus’ darkest hour, He was singing a song of hope. That’s my Christmas song this year. While I feel pessimistic and things around look dark, my hope is in the Gospel. My hope is in the Lord. I’ll listen to the doctor’s reports. But my hope is in “He [that] rules over the nations. I’ll be sad when I see some empty stockings this year. But I’ll find hope knowing He hasn’t hidden His face from me.

I’m Clark Griswold. Trying desperately to hold things together while they’re coming apart at the seams. And it’s easy for me to get angry with those around me like Clark when it all seems too much. I could rant and rave and let off a string of obscenities and chase squirrels around the house. Or I can choose to remember a story of hope. That starts with a baby. And ends like the prophet Isaiah said and like Jesus reminded us from the cross… “There will be no end to the increase of…peace.” I’m a pessimist. But I’m full of Hope.

~ by jacobcourtney1 on December 23, 2014.