"To perceive Christmas through its wrappings becomes more difficult with every year." - E. B. White
In New York's Hayden Planetarium a special Christmas holiday show was
enhanced by an added feature. A giant lollipop tree was projected onto
the planetarium dome, surrounded by a horizon filled with brilliantly
coloured toys which came to life and cavorted to the tune of "Jingle
Bells." At the climax a huge figure of Santa Claus faded out in a snow
storm, and the star of Bethlehem broke through into a sky that produced
exactly the Palestine sky on the night of the nativity. The designer of
this show may not realize that he dramatically staged the supreme
Christmas message our world needs to understand: The recovery of the
lost meaning of Christmas. This is not said in any criticism of Santa
Claus; the effect must have delighted the hearts of all the children who
saw it, without doing violence to their love of Bethlehem. But for
adults it is a tragic loss to substitute "Jingle Bells" for "Hark! the
Herald Angels Sing," and a lollipop tree for the manger of Bethlehem.
The instinct is right to fade out these things in the
