I feel obliged to write about Christmas. It is that time of year, right? It is everywhere.
I was at the orthodontist with my boy this week (there goes Christmas!) when one of the assistants called the orthodontist a grinch.
“They don’t like Christmas,” she whispered to me, exasperated that such a human could even exist, “They’re a grinch!”
“What!” I exclaimed, “How can you not like Christmas?”
“I know, right!” with a companion in thought, she smiled contentedly, her judgment of the one who does not like Christmas now justified.
It did get me thinking though, what does it take for someone to not like Christmas? What must Christmas remind them of? What could the faith, festivities and food possibly represent that would result in grinch-like tendencies?
The story of The Grinch, by Dr Suess, is pretty simple. Spoiler coming if you haven’t read the book or seen the movie …
The Grinch is hurt and alone, well, nearly alone, he has Max his nearly faithful dog with him. At Christmas his pain and isolation is exacerbated as Whoville connects and celebrates more than normal. So, it is only natural that the Grinch should steal Christmas from its residents so that they all hurt like he does! However, Cindy Lou, a small ‘Whovillian’ catches him in the act and, despite his evil shenanigans, invites him to dinner. Suddenly, the Grinch feels connected and loved. He is compelled to return Christmas to Whoville, all its gifts and decorations. He is then welcomed to celebrate Christmas with all the Whos and his heart grows three times its size (a lovely metaphor for how we feel when we are welcomed and accepted for who we are).
I always feel sorry for the Grinch; hurt to the point where he is alone and feels rejected. Hurt to the point where he lashes out so he has company in misery. (I feel I must say at this point, the orthodontist was not these things at all, they were very lovely and cared for my boy very well!)
It is not difficult to look around us and see, is it? We all have Grinches in our life don’t we? For whatever valid-and-justified, painful-beyond-what-we-can-imagine reason, there are those in our life who struggle to see beyond, who are difficult to connect with, who leave us a little, or a lot, hurt.
The key is the ‘Cindy Lou’ factor. The capacity of a child to look beyond the immediate offense, to look beyond the impact on herself, and simply love-on. Simple in action (come to dinner) and simple in concept (we all need genuine love despite our grinchy-ness).
If I am honest though, I don’t think this idea is a Dr Seuss ‘green-eggs-and-ham-type’ original. I don’t think Cindy Lou was the first to show this kind of love. In fact, could I boldly suggest she is a metaphor for the love we see in Jesus?
From the time of His birth, which we celebrate at this time of year, the ‘Cindy Lou’ factor has been clear. God keeps his promise to be with us always and love us unceasingly. God comes to earth and looks past our rejection of Him and our continued unkindness to one another (a point I don’t feel I need to prove in our world now). Instead, He sees our beauty, our purposeful, powerful identity and values our connection with Him and others. He invites us to walk with him, even have dinner with him! Simple. In fact, in his parable in Matthew 22 Jesus goes so far as to invite anyone who wants to come to feast at the table with him, to come and do so and become part of His blended family.
I love that our world’s response to God being with us, Christ’s birth, is to celebrate it by taking the time to be with family, to connect and forgive, to invite in.
So, to conclude this year, I leave you with the ‘Jesus & Cindy Lou’ challenge:
1. Look around you.
2. Find your Grinch.
3. Allow the unconditional love that we see and receive from Jesus to empower you to forgive, connect and invite; to look past the offence, the pain or the hurt and value the truth of the wonderfully created person you see in front of you.
I am thankful for our Richmond Christian College community, especially our students, for how they model this all year so that we can live, learn and love in the fullness of what God has planned for us in our ‘Whoville’.
May you know His love for you this Christmas and be able to share it with those around you.
Blessings,
Jonno
If you missed out on getting your 30th Birthday beans at our celebrations, we are selling them for $5 a set through the School Office!
K-6 Swimming Block
Monday 27 November - Wednesday 6 December
WHOLE College Christmas Chapel (All Welcome)
Thursday 30 November @ 2.10pm in the MPC
MUFTI- DAY
Thursday 7 December - Gold Coin Donation
Year 6 & Pre-Kindy Graduation
Thursday 7 December @ 9am in the MPC
K - Year 5 Step-up Day
Thursday 7 December @ 10am
Final day Family BBQ (All Welcome)
Thursday 7 December @ 12 midday
RCC Celebration Evening
Thursday 7 December @ 5.30 - 7.00pm in the MPC
.......................................................
RCC PRAYER GROUP
Mondays at 2pm.
------------------------------------------
LAST DAY OF TERM 4
Thursday 7 December 2023
FIRST DAY OF TERM 1 2024
Tuesday 30 January 2024
Warning, the following sports report has a lot of cricket jargon.
On Thursday 23 November, we met Summerland at Geoff Watt Alstonville for our annual 20/20 Cricket match. After our skipper, Aaron won the toss and elected to bat, he made an outstanding captain's knock where he retired at 20 not out. Other outstanding results from the batsmen were Jaxon (15 runs), and Arshveer (13 runs). Richmond finished their 20 overs at 5/89.
Aaron was just as fierce with the ball, taking 3/14 off his 4 overs, including being on a hattrick at one stage. Other bowling figures included Ben 0/6 off 2 overs, Gurshan 1/3 off 2 overs, Sam 0/2 off 2 overs (including a maiden), Chungte 0/8 off 2 overs, Oscar 1/9 off 2 overs, Cooper 0/4 off 1 over, Jwenil 0/10 off 2 overs, Jaxon 2/1 off 1 over and Karan 0/6 off 1 over.
Summerland finished their 20 overs at 7/72, meaning Richmond were once again champions with a 17 run win. All Richmond players batted and/or bowled, making valuable contributions to the team. There was great comradery amongst the lads, with a victory making the day extra special.
A massive thank you to Nathan Whitty, Jaxon's dad, for his assistance on the day.
Racecourse Café provides a lunch canteen Monday to Friday.
Note: No Change will be given as orders go straight to the Racecourse Café.
Dinner is Served would like to help support our school community. As parents ourselves we know how busy it is with work, after-school activities, and everything else and our take-home meals are perfect for easing the load during the week (or having a night off at the weekend!). We’ve created a discount code for the Richmond Christian College community which is RCC15. This will give anyone who uses it a 15% discount and free delivery on their first order placed online www.cookaborough.com/dinner-is-served
Shilpi Karner
Director & Event Manager
0431 436 138
events@dinnerisserved.com.au
