Have you ever had the experience of travelling to a foreign destination, only to have the locals swamp you with offers to guide you to all the best attractions. It's a fairly common occurrance. Of course, you'll want to do your homework to be sure your local guide is honest and trustworthy. If so, you invite them into the vehicle to guide and direct your journey. In most cases, it's a win-win -- the local makes a little extra money, and you end up getting the tour of a lifetime.

Because of their intimate knowledge of the locale, they are able to guide you to all the best areas to visit, as well as warn you about which areas to avoid because of the danger to tourists.  It's tough, though, to follow the directions of a stranger. With a guide book in one hand, and GPS in the other, we are often confident that we could make as good or better decisions about how to proceed, especially when the local guide suggests you veer off the beaten path.

He might direct you to take an unmarked dirt road, or to push hard up the side of a steep hill. He might direct you to step out of the vehicle all together and into a dense forest or crowed plaza.

As the driver, of course, you have the last say of where to go. But if you've done your homework and have full confidence in your guide, you'll end up with some great pictures and great experiences in places you'd never find in your commercial tour book.

Each Christmas for the past nearly six decades, Americans have gathered around the TV to watch one of the most iconic and beloved cartoon animations of all time, A Charlie Brown Christmas. And within this iconic show, is one of the most iconic scenes ever scripted -- Linus' monologue about the true meaning of Christmas. 

Mocked, humiliated, and confused, Charlie Brown cries out, "Doesn't anybody know what Christmas is all about?!"

Linus gently replies, "I know what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown." And with that He takes center stage to proclaim the Good News of the Gospel as recorded in Luke Chapter Two:

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

"That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."

But have you ever noticed what happens right in the middle of that monologue? Linus drops his blanket!

Jason Soroski, writing for The Gospel Coalition, has this to say ... 

Linus is most associated with his ever-present security blanket. Throughout the story of Peanuts, Lucy, Snoopy, Sally and others all work to no avail to separate Linus from his blanket. And even though his security blanket remains a major source of ridicule for the otherwise mature and thoughtful Linus, he simply refuses to give it up.

Until this moment. When he simply drops it.

In that climactic scene when Linus shares what “Christmas is all about,” he drops his security blanket, and I am now convinced that this is intentional. Most telling is the specific moment he drops it: when he utters the words “fear not” (at :44 seconds).

Coming from California we of course had some unique weather issues. Something that we had in the Central Valley of California was what we called Pea Soup Fog. Growing up on a rice farm, our winters would arrive like clock work with a thick blanket of fog. Sometimes we would have a week of all night and all day fog that would never break or lift.

Living out in the countryside I remember nights where people would show up at our door asking where they were because they would get so lost they wouldn’t know what road they were on. 

Peas Soup Fog is not just disorienting, it can be utterly dangerous and unhealthy:

[It] is a very thick and often yellowish, greenish or blackish fog caused by air pollution that contains soot particulates and the poisonous gas sulphur dioxide. This very thick smog occurs in cities and is derived from the smoke given off by the burning of soft coal for home heating and in industrial processes. Smog of this intensity is often lethal to vulnerable people such as the elderly, the very young (infants) and those with respiratory problems.

And beyond being unhealthy, it can downright blinding.

When learning to drive it was imperative that I learn to roll my windows down at a stop sign to listen for cars since you couldn't see them.  I almost ran into a cow once because it had gotten loose and was walking on the road in the fog.   

Growing up I remember the fog was dangerous and I was scared of it.