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As a young vaudeville actor Bob Hope found himself alone each Christmas. The grueling road schedule prevented him from returning to Cleveland for the holiday. Each Christmas morning Hope would think of his family worshiping at Euclid Avenue Presbyterian Church without him, followed by a family dinner of turkey and plum pudding. For the Hope household Christmas was family day, and Bob longed to join them around the hearth.
In 1948 Senator Stuart Symington asked Bob Hope to entertain American military personnel in Berlin with a special Christmas celebration. Never forgetting the loneliness he felt as a young performer in a strange city far from home, Hope readily agreed. That was the beginning of what Bob Hope would call his "Christmas family," thousands of homesick servicemen with whom he shared annual Christmas greetings.
Each Christmas day as Bob Hope walked onto the stage, gazing at the throng of gathered servicemen, he would begin the performance saying to himself, "It's a long way from Cleveland." With those words he could empathize with the forlorn G.I.
Mr. Hope understood the message of the Psalmist when he wrote, "I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD… In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old."
Christmas is a great day of celebration, merriment, exchanging gifts, and family fellowship; Jesus did not come into the world to stand under mistletoe. He came into the world because the people were distressed and oppressed. They were sick and lonely, poor and destitute. God understood and remembered this. That is why the Psalmist could say God in his kindness lifted them up. It is not a message and mission that was lost on Bob Hope, nor should it ever be lost on us. Enjoy the "chestnuts roasting on an open fire," but remember they are to be shared.
In 1948 Senator Stuart Symington asked Bob Hope to entertain American military personnel in Berlin with a special Christmas celebration. Never forgetting the loneliness he felt as a young performer in a strange city far from home, Hope readily agreed. That was the beginning of what Bob Hope would call his "Christmas family," thousands of homesick servicemen with whom he shared annual Christmas greetings.
Each Christmas day as Bob Hope walked onto the stage, gazing at the throng of gathered servicemen, he would begin the performance saying to himself, "It's a long way from Cleveland." With those words he could empathize with the forlorn G.I.
Mr. Hope understood the message of the Psalmist when he wrote, "I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD… In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old."
Christmas is a great day of celebration, merriment, exchanging gifts, and family fellowship; Jesus did not come into the world to stand under mistletoe. He came into the world because the people were distressed and oppressed. They were sick and lonely, poor and destitute. God understood and remembered this. That is why the Psalmist could say God in his kindness lifted them up. It is not a message and mission that was lost on Bob Hope, nor should it ever be lost on us. Enjoy the "chestnuts roasting on an open fire," but remember they are to be shared.
