Four of my top five are movies that I grew up on. They're what I watched on Christmas Eve until the television switched over to a Midnight Christmas Eve Service from places like St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York.
5. Charlie Brown's Christmas was Charles Schulz wonderful portrayal of Christmas. Schulz was a wonderful Christian whose comic strip Peanuts often carried powerful theological observations. Charlie's Christmas was a whole lot more like mine, and certainly a cut above Ralphie's.
4. It's a Wonderful Life is generally at the top of most lists. Jimmy Stewart had a powerful portrayal of what life is like devoid of hope; but also how one life impacts another.
3. The Nativity Story is the one Christmas movie that actually compels me to worship. It is more than entertainment. In a few years of watching it, I suspect it will move to number one.
2. Miracle of 34th Street is a reminder of the simple joys of Christmas, especially for children. It is also a cautionary tale about trying too hard to take a scientific look at life instead of letting Christmas have some mystery. Plus, I love it when the US Post Office (which represents the "In God We Trust USA") recognizes Santa.
1. Next to the Nativity story, A Christmas Carol is the most spiritually redeeming of all Christmas stories. This is the one I watched as a kid (in black and white). My favorite scene is when Ebenezer Scrooge goes out of his mind with joy when he realizes he has a second chance in life.
And that's one of the most powerful lessons of Christmas - either in God's Word or in literature. God is making something new. He is giving us a second chance to live in the light, not in the darkness--to embrace hope instead of despair--to live the more perfect way of love.
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