Shoes That Click to My Clack

I love Mr. Magoo.

The perennial favorite, Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol thrilled me each December while I grew up, or rather got older (I’ve been told I’ve yet to grow up). But as an adult, the video, and later, DVD, were unavailable each Christmas when I looked. And I looked for several years.

My kids and even my husband could not understand my need to find what they considered an old, silly cartoon. When feeling nostalgic, they preferred Charlie Brown or Rudolph. And I enjoy those as well, but something about Mr. Magoo called to me and my search continued.

Last Christmas I found him. I bought both the DVD and VHS plus a couple extra to share with others. I rushed home and popped him in the player and curled up ready to enjoy.

It wasn’t long before I figured out the pull. I related to Mr. Magoo’s Scrooge on so many levels. And when young Ebenezer sang from his heart, the words came back in a rush and I sang along. There was a time I wondered if there would be shoes that clicked to my clack. I felt alone in the world quite often as a child in spite of my loving family.

But God never wastes a tear, even those shed during a cartoon. I know this tenderhearted mush has driven my family nuts at times but it has allowed me to understand my characters at a deeper level. Even when my writing lacked the mechanics needed to make a decent novel, readers still empathized with the characters.

Yet more important and immediate, it has allowed me to reach out to my students and their parents. I tease my class that they may not move doing the school year since their teacher has abandonment issues (imagine Kindergarteners going home and explaining abandonment issues to their parents). But the truth is we all long to belong, to fit in. Even the rebel who goes out of her way to be apart for fear she won’t fit in is really longing to find her place in the world. And I’m not talking a cookie cutter mentality but an acceptance of who we are, uniquely designed by our Creator to be.

It is not good for man—or woman or child—to be alone.

Mr. Magoo will always be my favorite Ebenezer Scrooge. But more important, I’m grateful for shoes that click to my clack and not being alone in the world. Thank you, Abba.

Abundant blessings,

Jenny