Keep Christmas well.

Paul GleiserKeep Christmas Well

More than a decade ago I decided to establish a You Tell Me tradition — something that we share together on our last visit of the year. That tradition is made possible by one of the best wordsmiths ever to work in broadcasting. His name was Harry Reasoner and he was one of the founding anchors of CBS’s “60 Minutes” and he also anchored for ABC during the 1970s.

He, like many of his peers, learned his craft as a newspaperman, catering to an audience with a longer attention span. His technology was a manual typewriter and his daily pursuit was the well-turned phrase.

As I ponder Christmas 2021, coming as it does at the end of nearly two years of suffering by individuals and families and business owners, I come back to a transcript that I have hung on to for more than 40 years. It was written by Reasoner and delivered on at least two occasions, once on “60 Minutes” and once when he was an anchor at ABC. He said before he died that it got him more mail than anything he had ever done.

So, in what continues as a You Tell Me tradition, here again is what Harry Reasoner said:

The basis for this tremendous annual burst of gift buying and parties and near hysteria is a quiet event that Christians believe actually happened a long time ago. You can say that in all societies there has always been a midwinter festival and that many of the trappings of our Christmas are almost violently pagan. But you come back to the central fact of the day and quietness of Christmas morning – the birth of God on earth.

It leaves you only three ways of accepting Christmas.

One is cynically, as a time to make money or endorse the making of it.

One is graciously, the appropriate attitude for non-Christians, who wish their fellow citizens all the joys to which their beliefs entitle them.

And the third, of course, is reverently. If this is the anniversary of the appearance of the Lord of the universe in the form of a helpless babe, then it is a very important day.

It’s a startling idea, of course. My guess is that the whole story that a virgin was selected by God to bear His Son as a way of showing His love and concern for man is not an idea that has been popular with theologians. It’s a somewhat illogical idea, and theologians like logic almost as much as they like God. It’s so revolutionary a thought that it probably could only come from a God that is beyond logic, and beyond theology.

It has a magnificent appeal. Almost nobody has seen God, and almost nobody has any real idea of what He is like. And the truth is that among men the idea of seeing God suddenly and standing in a very bright light is not necessarily a completely comforting and appealing idea.

But everyone has seen babies, and most people like them. If God wanted to be loved as well as feared he moved correctly here. If He wanted to know His people as well as rule them, He moved correctly here, for a baby growing up learns all about people. If God wanted to be intimately a part of man, He moved correctly, for the experiences of birth and familyhood are our most intimate and precious experiences.

So, it goes beyond logic. It is either all falsehood or it is the truest thing in the world. It’s the story of the great innocence of God the baby – God in the form of man – and has such a dramatic shock toward the heart that if it is not true, for Christians, nothing is true.

So, if a Christian is touched only once a year, the touching is still worth it, and maybe on some given Christmas, some final quiet morning, the touch will take.”

Thank you, Harry.

One final thought, also now a You Tell Me tradition. If the Christmas Spirit is, again, not coming easily to you, consider the words of another favorite wordsmith of mine. His name was Charles Dickens and in his literary opus, “A Christmas Carol,” he said,

…for it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child himself.”

So it is, Mr. Dickens. So it is.

God bless us, every one.

 

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Paul Gleiser

Paul L. Gleiser is president of ATW Media, LLC, licensee of radio stations KTBB 97.5 FM/AM600, 92.1 The TEAM FM in Tyler-Longview, Texas.

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4 Responses

  1. Jim Lee says:

    Well said my friend. Hope you and your better half have a safe and happy Christman.

  2. Brenda H Nutter says:

    Thank you so much for You Tell Me Texas, especially today’s. I try to read them the day before you give it in person on Friday mornings. Some how it is so much better when we hear it from you than read it ourselves. This week was especially nice because we were able to listen instead of just reading it when you emailed it to us. Oh, and my alarm is still set to remind me to stop whatever I’m doing, collect up my husband and sit with a cup of coffee and listen to You Tell Me Texas Friday morning. We wouldn’t miss it. Thank you again. And as always, this is another great post!

  3. Ron Eagleman says:

    Thanks for sharing Harry Reasoner’s essay on Christmas again this year. Indeed a tradition that we all need to observe and absorb! Thanks also for offering thought-provoking commentaries throughout the year via “You tell me Texas”. This platform provides an excellent opportunity for folks to interact in a civilized, even if sometimes a confrontational manner, while exercising one of our most cherished freedoms. Thank you Paul, and each one who contributes to our discussions. Merry Christmas and a healthy, happy New Year to all.

  4. Michael Reagan says:

    Thanks Paul. This is one we need to read each year at this magical time. I, for one, do believe Christmas IS “The Most Wonderful Time of Year!”

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