When I was young and even through most of my adult years, the story of the Grinch Who Stole Christmas bothered me. I liked to watch it, just because it was an animated cartoon, and back then anything that was animated attracted me. After all, I belong to the generation that had the once a quarter Peanuts specials and Saturday morning cartoons, and that was it, because we didn’t have cable. (Until I was in jr. high.)

But the part about the Whos in Whoville being happy even after all their Christmas decorations and presents and food got “Grinched” made me feel mad and guilty. I mean, I would be mad if someone stole all my Christmas goods. I also felt guilty that the Whos weren’t mad about it and didn’t get revenge. I would be mad if I were them. When I saw them standing in a circle singing happily on Christmas morning with all their loot taken I just wanted to cry, partly in shame because I didn’t feel like being good like they were. I felt like beating up the Grinch! I wanted to smack his mean nasty face! Or at least pinch him!  Actually I would chicken out on that, but I felt like at least sneaking into the Grinch’s place during the night and getting all the stuff back.

But now I “get” it.

I’ve had different people in my life demonstrate to me how important the birth of the Savior is. That because of that gift, and just that gift, Christmas is a Merry time. That truly, the gift of the Savior is such a HUGE gift. Anything else is icing on the cake. If we didn’t have that gift, nothing else would matter.

Material things are definitely important, don’t get me wrong. I belong to a church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) that teaches that temporal well-being goes hand-in-had with eternal well-being. But temporal, material things can come and go. I am learning to not be so attached to material things. If my heart is right and I maintain my connection to Heavenly Father through obedience to his laws and the promptings He gives me, I will have the material things I need in the moments when I truly need them, according to His idea. If I don’t have that thing, then I must not truly need it in that moment. There must be some lesson to be learned about not having that thing. I am thinking of Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail and how at one time he didn’t even have a blanket or a pillow. Yet he was not forsaken. He had what he needed, according to God. He learned the lessons God had for him and moved on to better material circumstances.

I have learned that I can enjoy material things and then let go of them and pass them on to others when I can sense that others need them. I am getting better at passing them onto other people who need them more, before I can even enjoy them.  If someone steals them, that person must think he/she needs it more than I do. That attitude helped me when I found out my nice bicycle got stolen from my garage when we lived in Provo. Now that I am an adult I realize that whatever shows up on Christmas morning can show up on any other morning if I obey the success principles required to attract that material blessing to my life.

I can see now that the Whos must have known all that. I don’t know if Dr. Seuss was Christian, but I like to think that he was and that the Whos were and they believed and were supremely grateful for the gift of Jesus. They knew that no matter what material things the Grinch could take away, he couldn’t take away the gift of an eternal Savior. Because of the Savior they had bodies and minds and energy and they could just go and work and attract all that material stuff back. That is certainly cause to be merry at any time!

It was five years ago this Christmas season that I read Leslie Householder’s book, Hidden Treasures: Heaven’s Astonishing Help with Your Money Matters. It helped me see that I have the power within me to attract all the material things I want, according to God’s universal laws.

In sacrament meeting last Sunday we sang the hymn that has the words that go like this about the Savior, “although in agony he hung, no murmuring words escaped his tongue.” Each of us has this has our spiritual legacy. Each of us have the person who this describes as our Savior. He is a source of infinite peace and love. No matter what the mean guys did to him, they couldn’t take away his happiness or peace. Just like the Grinch couldn’t take away happiness and peace from the Whos.

I feel such a peace now that the whole Grinch thing is resolved in my heart.