The Great Pumpkin

I’ve always loved Charles Schulz’ Peanuts comics, and I’ve always loved the Great Pumpkin cartoon. I always laugh Charlie Brown’s puts on his ghost costume with a few extra holes and says “I had a little trouble with the scissors.” I laugh at Charlie Brown’s depressed tone every time he says, “I got a rock.” And I laugh at the ridiculousness of Linus’ belief in the Great Pumpkin. 

Linus believes in this Santa Claus-esque figure called the Great Pumpkin who “rises from the pumpkin patch and flies through the air with his bag of toys for all the children.”

Linus spends his Halloween in the local pumpkin patch hoping that the Great Pumpkin will choose that pumpkin patch to rise up out of. 

According to Linus, the Great Pumpkin places a high value on sincerity. He explains to Sally, 

“Each year the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he thinks is the most sincere. He’s got to pick this one. He’s got to. I don’t know how a pumpkin patch could be more sincere than this one. You can look all around and there’s not a sign of hypocrisy. Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see.”

Later, when his friends come by to mock him, Linus makes a mistake and says “IF the Great Pumpkin comes…” (instead of WHEN he comes)

Linus is distraught and says, “One little slip like that can cause the Great Pumpkin to pass you by.”

The Great Pumpkin never does come, and Linus is discouraged, but he remains hopeful for the next year. 

I’m so glad that Jesus didn’t wait until we were the most sincere and without hypocrisy before he came and dwelt with us. 

“But God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

Jesus didn’t wait for me to clean my life up before he saved me, and he doesn’t push me away for my hypocrisy and lack of sincerity. He doesn’t pass me by when I slip up and doubt him. 

He know our frame, and he remembers that we are dust.