Oh, Magoo! You've Done It Again!

This morning I was ambivalent about Christmas. I'm thrilled with the presents I got my niece and nephew and cannot wait for our gift exchange later this afternoon. But as always with my family -- with every family, to some degree, I suppose -- there is going to be tension. My mom is sad about the breakdown of communication with my uncle. My sister is not sensitive to my wanting to end my Christmas Eve and welcome my Christmas Day with worship at my church, so we may not be entirely finished with gifts and dinner by the time I have to leave …

So I popped in my old VHS tape of Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol. Aside from fact that I was transported back to the first time I saw it (when I was about 6 or 7, in black and white, in a darkened spare bedroom at my grandmother's house, it was the first time I met these Dickens' characters), it also reminded of the message:

It's Christmas Eve and we're together.

It may not be perfect. But it will be memorable, especially for my niece and nephew. And who knows how many more Christmases we'll be able to celebrate together?

This is why I love movies. They get through to me … fast. I have learned much from books, too, naturally. But Magoo managed to penetrate my cranium and heart in little more than a hour. And I'm grateful.

Merry Christmas, Blogosphere!