Dear Cornerstone Family,
After I wrote last week’s pastoral notes on my seasonal Christmas reading, a couple of you asked if I would be pulling together my traditional pre-Christmas pastoral notes of my favorite quotes. Well, the fact that at least two of you remembered that I typically write such a pastoral note prompted me to do it yet again this year! (Truth be told, I probably would have done it anyway.)
In addition to book quotes, one of you said, “Throw in a movie quote or two.” I rolled my eyes (in my heart), but I did oblige. Truth is, I watch several Christmas movies every year. Elf and National Lampoon’s Christian Vacation are always good for a laugh, or two, or three. My favorite all time Christmas movie is It’s a Wonderful Life. We faithfully watched it every year as a family growing up; a tradition I’ve managed to keep with my family. And yes, I cry every year. Like a baby.
So with no further ado, the wonder filled and whimsical, in no discernable order, all for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!
“The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.” —Elf
“Christ is the great central fact in the world’s history. To Him everything looks forward or backward. All the lines of history converge upon Him. All the great purposes of God culminate in Him. The greatest and most momentous fact which the history of the world records is the fact of his birth.” —Charles Spurgeon
“Merry Christmas, you filthy animal.”—Home Alone 2
“The whole life of Christ was a continual Passion; others die martyrs, but Christ was born a martyr. He found a Golgotha, where he was crucified, even in Bethlehem, where he was born. For to his tenderness then the straws were almost as sharp as the thorns after, and the manger as uneasy at first as the cross at last.”—John Donne
“Personally, of course, I believe in Santa Claus; but it is the season of forgiveness, and I will forgive others for not doing so.”—G.K. Chesterton
“I don’t know what to say, but it’s Christmas, and we’re all in misery.”—Ellen Griswold
“Behind all the fun and games at Christmastime, we should not try to escape a sense of awe, almost a sense of fright, at what God has done. We must never allow anything to blind us to the true significance of what happened at Bethlehem so long ago. Nothing can alter the fact that we live on a visited planet.”—J.B. Phillips
Grace & Peace,
