Stories and Christmastime: Standing at the Window

The Magic of Story at Christmastime

Christmas stories are magical—how else can we explain our desire to devour them year after year? They soften our hearts to child-like dreams. They remind us what a jolly laugh feels like. They make our faces wet as we renew our faith and rekindle a hope that we thought was destroyed in seasons past. The magic is real by design. The magic is in the story—and at Christmastime, it’s the divine story.

Christmas stories and movies often don’t directly reference the birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ. They focus on the themes of the season and the feelings we get when we revisit them each year. But God has a way of teaching his message even when mankind might not be aware of it. The message is there if we have eyes to see. For this reason, I’ve made it a point to find the theme of Christ—his grace, love, sacrifice, and atonement for all mankind—hidden in my favorite movies. I’ve been pleased to find it appears more often than expected, even when the word “Christmas” isn’t mentioned. I credit the divinity behind storytelling, of course.

Standing at the Window Christmas Eve

In the1970 musical Scrooge, my heart leaps each time I witness Tiny Tim and his sister gazing in the window of the toy shop at all the treasures they cannot have. Look at their eyes. They cannot hide the wonder and joy inside their hearts as they imagine what it would be like to play with one of the precious toys on the other side of the window. They can’t even touch them from where they are. But behind the joy in their eyes lies a harsh truth their little minds shouldn’t have to bear—those toys are out of reach in every aspect they can imagine.

But they still look and smile and wonder at the beauty beyond the window. Their innocent hearts don’t cave to the sorrow of a Christmas filled with this unfulfilled wish. They still hold onto what they’ve always had and what cannot be taken from them—the love of family, the beauty of the season, and the gifts it brings that supersedes even the most expensive of toys. But still, they wish.

Waking to the Miracle of Christmas Day

Those adorable children went to sleep that night thinking the precious toys in the window would never be theirs. Their father as much as told them this, so why should they believe anything else?

 Is it a coincidence that when Scrooge experiences his change of heart, he brings to the Cratchit home the very toys Tiny Tim and his sister were longing for?

Symbols of Christ

The children longed for something they thought they could never have, only to be given it as a gift. This is the message of Christ—what God has been trying to tell each of us through the power of story. We think we stand outside of His love and that we could never measure up and deserve what he has. We think we need to be perfect before we can enter into his presence. Since we are not, we wait outside looking in the window, longing for what we think we’ll never deserve. Instead, God sent his Son to give us the gift of his grace and atoning sacrifice—the gift of forgiveness, the remission of sin, the removal of pain and sorrow, and the blessing of eternal life with Him.

When we see eternal messages in the stories we love, we become reconnected to our divinity, our hope is renewed, and our outlook is brighter. We become the light that others might need—let it shine!