“So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." ~ Matthew 5:48
On the night of Feb. 12, 2000,
Charles Schulz, the cartoonist who drew the masterful comic strip “Peanuts”
passed away, ending a work spanning 50 years and 17,897 strips. In its prime, Peanuts was published in
2,600 newspapers in 75 countries and is thought to be the
longest story ever told by one person.
The final panel shows a miserable Charlie Brown laying flat
on his back while Lucy gazes down at him, holding the ball, telling Carlie
Brown in one way or another that he should never have trusted her.
Lucy would continue some
variant of the football snatch every year (except 1985) until the strip’s final
full year. The same happened nine times
in animation. Schulz kept bringing it
back because fans kept expecting it.
Lucy kept pulling the same trick every year. You might think Charlie Brown would’ve
learned his lesson. He wasn’t naïve or
foolish. He did realize it!
As the years wore on, the football gag strips usually opened
with a jaded Charlie Brown talking about how he wasn’t going to fall for it
this time; that he finally knew better no matter what Lucy promised. He always wound up trying … and failing.
Two elements kept the gag working. One was Lucy’s persuasive abilities. She had a knack for convincing others to do
anything.
The second was Charlie Brown’s trust and optimism – a theme
central to his character. Charlie Brown
failed often but he never gave up. Even
though he’d never kick that football, even though his team would always lose …
he kept trying, believing that things would finally break his way.
They never did!
Depending on your perspective, either he refused to learn
from the past or he won’t ever give up on the future. For Christians, it’s the latter that makes
Charlie Brown something of a Christ-like figure. He doesn’t retreat or give up on others. His optimism continuously renewed itself.
Hope and goodness are always diffusive; never to be confined.
We don’t know people’s hearts. We don’t
know their potential. And we don’t know
what they might do.
We’re told to be like God, which is to love like God. We become most authentic when we strive to
imitate God, when we love to give and when we give love freely.
