It is a children’s Christmas classic by now, the wonderful story of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” written by Dr. Seuss. Are you familiar with the original version?
“Every Who down in Who-ville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch, who lived just North of Who-ville, did NOT!”
Why you ask? Perhaps, said Dr. Suess,
“It could be that his head wasn’t screwed on quite right.
It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.
But I think the most likely reason of all
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.”
The story, of course, is really about how the Grinch didn’t steal Christmas at all. Yes, he stole the trees, the gifts, the food, the stockings, the lights and the greenery. By the time the Grinch returned to his wickedly lonely home on top of the mountain overlooking Who-ville, all he left behind was the snow, a few hooks on the wall, and a speck of food so small, even the Who-ville mouse turned up his nose at it.
But, much to his surprise, when the good folks of the village woke up on Christmas morning, they joined hands in the street and sang their songs of Christmas as if it didn’t matter that the gifts were gone, that the food was missing, and that the decorations had been stolen.
High on his mountain fortress, it puzzled the Grinch to no end to realize that despite all his work, despite all his evil intent, he hadn’t stolen Christmas at all.
”And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?
It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
"It came without packages, boxes or bags!"
And he puzzled three hours, `till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.
"Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"
And what happened then...?
Well...in Who-ville they say
That the Grinch's small heart
Grew three sizes that day!”
May this simple children’s book remind us again that Christmas is not about the gifts and parties and decorations. Christmas will still be with us even without the trappings and festivities and commercialization and stress that come with it. Even if Dr Seuss did not specifically mention it, we Christians know that indeed, Christmas is something more… Christmas is Christ! May we all give more time and effort to find the Christ of Christmas. Then, maybe, like the Grinch, our hearts will grow bigger, fuller and happier, too.
Source: “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” Dr. Seuss, © 1957
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