The lone pine.

We all know the iconic Christmas special by Charles Schulz and the Peanuts gang. The show opens with Charlie Brown not feeling any holiday cheer. He thinks Christmas has become too commercialized and focused on all the wrong things. He speaks with his friend/psychiatrist, Lucy and she suggests he take over directing the local Christmas pageant to lift his spirits and give meaning back to the holiday.

Charlie Brown arrives at the auditorium to find the cast not doing anything that looked like rehearsing. He can’t get anyone to focus or do what he asks and decides that what the play needs is a little more Christmas spirit. So he heads off with Linus to the Christmas tree lot, where they pick out the tiniest, most pathetic-looking tree in the whole lot. The kids berate him again when he returns with the tree. They call him stupid and hopeless and say he can’t ever do anything right.

Completely dejected, Charlie Brown takes his pathetic little tree and leaves. He makes his way home, where he decides to try to decorate the tree using ornaments and lights from Snoopy’s dog house. When Charlie Brown puts that famous bulb on the tree and it bends over, he exclaims, “I’ve killed it!” and then leaves.

I think a Charlie Brown Christmas has lasted the test of time and will always be an endearing show in millions of households for one reason. We can relate to the relationship Charlie Brown has with that lone pine. We can see ourselves in Charlie Brown, so desperately trying to find answers in an overly commercialized world. Trying to look past the surface-level answers. We can also see ourselves in that lone pine, just waiting for someone to take a chance on us.

Even the most pathetic-looking pine in the lot has untapped value, it just takes someone to see past the hollow, flashy, fake trees. Even more so, it takes a leader who can not only see the untapped value but also defend their decision against all of the detractors who do not see the big picture. This is a long tough road, that can often end with a dead end, ready to give up. There is hope for those who persevere.

At the end of a Charlie Brown Christmas, the kids show up and see the tree tipped over and decide it isn’t such a terrible tree after all. Together, they decorate the tree — and it turns out beautiful!

This Christmas season, don’t get discouraged. Remember that just like the Son of Man, born to a teenage virgin and a humble carpenter, in seemingly unvaluable circumstances, came the most valuable gift of all. Keep trying to find value in the seemingly unvaluable. Keep searching for purpose. Step out of your comfort zone to find more in yourself, and find more in others.