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captainsblogThat might be the only line in the decades of Peanuts generally known to be spoken by one of its oldest, yet most minor, characters:
As is verified by the blog entry wot I stole that picture from, Shermy's had a long and undeservedly undistinguished history in the Peanuts Gang over the years:
Shermy was one of the four original characters in the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles Schulz. Schulz named him after a friend from high school. Shermy was often portrayed as Charlie Brown's superior at the things that mattered to Charlie Brown, especially athletics. He was mainly utilized as a "straight man" for Charlie Brown. Shermy's major physical characteristic was his short, dark hair, which he usually wore in a crew cut. Apparently Schulz himself was not a big fan of this look, even though he never changed it, as he once commented that he "disliked" the way he drew Shermy's hair. Shermy appears in several of the animated Peanuts TV specials, beginning with A Charlie Brown Christmas in 1965, where he has one line of dialogue. Upon being cast as a shepherd in the gang's Christmas pageant, he laments, "Every Christmas it's the same: I always end up playing a shepherd."
I can relate to Shermy this year, because for most of the afternoon, that's about all I wound up playing.
----
Our church co-sponsors a number of urban ministries, among them one that's maybe eight miles and yet several worlds away from our safe suburban sanctuary. Seneca Street UMC is a Methodist oasis in a section of South Buffalo that's practically synonymous with Irish Catholicism but still needs some extra Protestant love to meet the neediness of the neighborhood, especially this time of year.
For years, a focus of our ministry there has been its annual Christmas party for all the kids in the Seneca/Babcock neighborhood. Our youth always go, and this was my first year actively participating along with Em- at least if you can define active participation as "standing around most of the afternoon looking for something to be helpful at."
I hit the peak of my talent, eminently Shermyish, in the first few minutes after they swung open the sanctuary doors to the 200-ish neighborhood kids, from the youngest of babies to the hopefully not soon-to-be mothers of babies. The arrivals needed to be sorted into Houses of sorts, age-appropriate activities awaiting the birth-to-sevens, the eight-to-elevens, and the twelve-and-ups. I was one of those in charge of getting the right ages to the right registrars, who would then ensure that the right color-coded nametag would be on the child for the rest of their day.
Beyond that, my talents paled compared to those of the kid. She quickly volunteered for one of the crafts tables. Me? The only skill I have in common with Martha Stewart is insider trading, and I generally refrain from putting it to any use. Still, I got to watch HER in action, creating reindeer antlers out of construction paper, safety scissors, and, especially, unbounded love:
Her more significant objet d'art for the afternoon was a sign she'd made for her craft station, a pencil-drawn picture of a reindeer showing the detail and subtlety that only her artwork can show. One of the littler kids, maybe 8, took quite a shine to that picture as Emily cut out her crafty headdress. When it came time to leave, Em was working on a duplicate of the drawing to give to the little kid; she instead autographed the original for Amanda, and spent a good 15 minutes hunting her down in the maze of stairs and chapels making up this turn-of-the-last-century church building. We finally found Amanda, and the smile on her face made the whole afternoon of shepherding worth it more than even these words can describe.
I rather prefer these ones, from someone who does not blog: Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the Kingdom of God.
And everyone say, Amen.
As is verified by the blog entry wot I stole that picture from, Shermy's had a long and undeservedly undistinguished history in the Peanuts Gang over the years:
Shermy was one of the four original characters in the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles Schulz. Schulz named him after a friend from high school. Shermy was often portrayed as Charlie Brown's superior at the things that mattered to Charlie Brown, especially athletics. He was mainly utilized as a "straight man" for Charlie Brown. Shermy's major physical characteristic was his short, dark hair, which he usually wore in a crew cut. Apparently Schulz himself was not a big fan of this look, even though he never changed it, as he once commented that he "disliked" the way he drew Shermy's hair. Shermy appears in several of the animated Peanuts TV specials, beginning with A Charlie Brown Christmas in 1965, where he has one line of dialogue. Upon being cast as a shepherd in the gang's Christmas pageant, he laments, "Every Christmas it's the same: I always end up playing a shepherd."
I can relate to Shermy this year, because for most of the afternoon, that's about all I wound up playing.
----
Our church co-sponsors a number of urban ministries, among them one that's maybe eight miles and yet several worlds away from our safe suburban sanctuary. Seneca Street UMC is a Methodist oasis in a section of South Buffalo that's practically synonymous with Irish Catholicism but still needs some extra Protestant love to meet the neediness of the neighborhood, especially this time of year.
For years, a focus of our ministry there has been its annual Christmas party for all the kids in the Seneca/Babcock neighborhood. Our youth always go, and this was my first year actively participating along with Em- at least if you can define active participation as "standing around most of the afternoon looking for something to be helpful at."
I hit the peak of my talent, eminently Shermyish, in the first few minutes after they swung open the sanctuary doors to the 200-ish neighborhood kids, from the youngest of babies to the hopefully not soon-to-be mothers of babies. The arrivals needed to be sorted into Houses of sorts, age-appropriate activities awaiting the birth-to-sevens, the eight-to-elevens, and the twelve-and-ups. I was one of those in charge of getting the right ages to the right registrars, who would then ensure that the right color-coded nametag would be on the child for the rest of their day.
Beyond that, my talents paled compared to those of the kid. She quickly volunteered for one of the crafts tables. Me? The only skill I have in common with Martha Stewart is insider trading, and I generally refrain from putting it to any use. Still, I got to watch HER in action, creating reindeer antlers out of construction paper, safety scissors, and, especially, unbounded love:
Her more significant objet d'art for the afternoon was a sign she'd made for her craft station, a pencil-drawn picture of a reindeer showing the detail and subtlety that only her artwork can show. One of the littler kids, maybe 8, took quite a shine to that picture as Emily cut out her crafty headdress. When it came time to leave, Em was working on a duplicate of the drawing to give to the little kid; she instead autographed the original for Amanda, and spent a good 15 minutes hunting her down in the maze of stairs and chapels making up this turn-of-the-last-century church building. We finally found Amanda, and the smile on her face made the whole afternoon of shepherding worth it more than even these words can describe.
I rather prefer these ones, from someone who does not blog: Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the Kingdom of God.
And everyone say, Amen.
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Date: 2008-12-21 03:28 am (UTC)I love A Charlie Brown Christmas, because it's one of the few Christmas specials that dares to speak Christ's name.