I generally avoid all the Christmas movies at this time of year. Occasionally one catches my attention, though, and reminds me of what Christmas is supposed to be.
I watched the movie Paper Angels a few days ago and caught it again today. I had bought the book a few years ago on Kindle and never actually read it, so after watching the movie, decided to bring it up and read it. (Oddly enough, I bought it three years ago today.) It’s a story that sounds like it should be hokey and full of over-the-top melodrama, but surprisingly it’s fairly understated and doesn’t end in the usual happily-ever-after. (Holiday movies don’t feel complete without that, do they?)
I’ll copy and paste the synopsis from Amazon:
Kevin Morrell is a forty-three-year-old husband and father who runs a successful design and marketing firm now suffering in the current economy. Attempting to navigate the hectic Christmas mall traffic, Kevin stumbles across the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree Project. His wife insists that he take a paper ornament.
The name on the ornament is Thomas Brandt, a fifteen-year-old still reeling from the implosion of his family—from years of verbal abuse from an alcoholic father to a struggling single mother who now finds herself and her children penniless. The only thing that has allowed Lynn to survive is her faith. Thomas shares that faith, but he also wonders why God has seemingly abandoned them.
Do you ever feel as if you’ve been abandoned? Do you ever feel like you have nothing to offer anyone else? Give yourself to someone else. Since we’re creators, let’s give our creations–our words, our writing, our art–to someone else this year for Christmas. Then let’s give them back to ourselves. Giving is the best gift there is.
I don’t have much to offer this year, but I can give you my words. I can give you encouragement to keep going with whatever you’re creating. I can give you hope for a better tomorrow.
Finding Our Voices Together 