Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown

Poor Charlie Brown, no one sent him a Christmas card.

Right now I'm watching Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown on ABC.  It wouldn't be the holidays without it.  Charlie Brown is bummed out, as usual, this time over Christmas's commercialization.  At the end of the show, Linus tells Charlie Brown about the true meaning of Christmas, alla Luke, often forgotten in the holly and jolly.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Linus Breaks It Down

The funny thing is that, almost fifty years later, how quaint it seems.  If anything, we in this decade think of the 1960s (when the special first debuted) as a simpler time, when carolers still passed house to house.  If Charlie Brown saw what Christmas has become in 2011, I can guarantee that eggnog would shoot out of his nipples.