TAKE A "CRECHE COURSE" IN THE TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS

Revised version of Clement Moore's "A Visit from St. Nick" puts Christ back in Christmas.

(PRWEB) November 10, 2003 --Everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it. Everyone talks about the commercialization of Christmas, too, but no one does anything about that either. At least, no one has until now.

Author and editor F.R. Duplantier has chosen a uniquely appropriate way to remind yuletide revelers of the true meaning of Christmas: by rewriting the popular children's verse that helped precipitate the commercialization of the holiday more than a century and a half ago.

In "A Visit from St. Nick," better known as "The Night Before Christmas," Clement Moore dispensed with the true story of the nativity and substituted instead a fanciful tale of a jolly fat fellow who flies from rooftop to rooftop in a reindeer-drawn sleigh and slides down chimneys with a bagful of stocking stuffers.

"It's an imaginative and charming bit of nonsense," Duplantier affirms, "but it's not what Christmas is all about."

In his revised version, entitled "A Visit from the Christ Child," Duplantier offers a "creche course" in the true meaning of Christmas, using the identical meter and rhyme scheme of Moore's original poem to tell the story of a father who realizes that his family has succumbed to commercialization:

"Twas the morning of Christmas, when all through the house
All the family was frantic, including my spouse;
For each one of them had one thing only in mind,
To examine the presents St. Nick left behind."

Gathering his family together, the father reminds them of the real significance of the occasion, recounting the details and explaining the significance of the birth of Jesus. He concludes with an exhortation to keep the true meaning of Christmas uppermost in their minds:

"Santa Claus, Christmas presents, a brightly lit pine,
Candy canes and spiced eggnog are all very fine;
Let's have fun celebrating, but leave not a doubt
That Christ is what Christmas is really about!"

Duplantier urges everyone to help put Christ back in Christmas by circulating "A Visit from the Christ Child" widely. The poem is available online in its entirety at www.politickles.com/thankevann/christchild/index.php
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