How the Grinch Stole Christmas: The Extended Ending

How the Grinch Stole Christmas:

The Extended Ending

(just a silly thing I wrote for our Nativity play)

Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,

was singing! Without any presents at all!

He HADN’T stopped Christmas from coming!

IT CAME!

Somehow or other, it came just the same!

And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,

Stood puzzling and puzzling: “How could it be so?

It came without ribbons! It came without tags!

“It came without packages, boxes or bags!”

And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!

“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.

“Maybe Christmas…. Perhaps … means a little bit more!”

 And what happened then…?

Well… in Who-ville they say

That the Grinch’s small heart

Grew three sizes that day!

And the minute his heart didn’t feel quite so tight,

He whizzed with his load through the bright morning light

And he brought back the toys! And the food for the feast!

And he…

HE HIMSELF…!

The Grinch carved the roast beast!

You may think that is how the story ends

But there is a bit more my curious friends

At the Who feast, as they ate, the Grinch inquired

how his dark heart was so wondrously rewired

and released from its hate and grump and callous uncaring

And filled instead with love and with sharing

And as the Grinch carved the roast beast,

He turned to the Who who headed the feast,

And asked, “sir, what was it what made my heart grow

As I stood with my sled in the cold cold snow?

And the head Who turned to the Grinch with twinkling eyes

“Your heart grew because of someone who came in disguise

“He filled your heart with love like a balloon

“And warmed it like a sun-filled day in late June

“So it wasn’t a ‘what’ at all but a ‘who’?,

 asked the Grinch as he began to chew

“It was a who”, the old Who replied

I shall introduce you, I’ll be your guide

But to know anyone, you must know their story

perhaps you’ll catch a glimpse of his glory

There are many places to start, but where I’ll begin

is with a young girl who held God within

“There was a young girl who was often in blue

She helped with the chores, and to pray she withdrew

Once, she was visited by an angel and told of a babe

Who would fill her belly, and the world he would save.

The girl responded confused by the message

Perhaps the angel misheard the date of her marriage

But there was no confusion at all

As a mother, this is how she would answer God’s call

Her betrothed was a descendent of David, a great king

It was he who gave her the promise of marriage, and a ring

He was a gentle, strong man, and a skeptic at first,

But the angel told him it was God’s son she would nurse.

So the two of them stuck through the difficult plight

And journeyed to Bethlehem where he was born in the night.

He was not born in in a hotel for there was no room

The King of Glory arrived in a defenseless costume

He came as a child, vulnerable and weak

He was placed in a manger, a cow at his cheek

The owner of all, he gave it all up

To become one of us and offer his cup

He was not recognized and so was not greeted

Except by a few, the humble, not the conceited

Angels told shepherds of the baby’s arrival

Though, King Herod threatened the child’s survival

Following the wise men, the king would conspire

Hoping to destroy the baby messiah

The wise men arrived, and delivered their treasure

Upon seeing the child they were filled with pleasure

Gold, frankincense, and myrrh, odd gifts for one so small

The little one was still struggling even to crawl

But accurate gifts, for a king who would save

The world from their sins and stand so brave

Against evil and corruption and teach us to love

He would be wise as a serpent and kind as a dove

Away from the evil king, they fled

until they heard that king Herod was dead

The Grinch kept on chewing his delicious roast beast

But was looking puzzled and his forehead was creased

“excuse me, I don’t understand how this child

 Is connected to my heart being beguiled

It is a fascinating story you’ve told

But as for the connection, I’m still a bit cold”

The wise Who looked at the Grinch with kind eyes

“Grinchiness plagues this world and it stands unwise

To live with such hate and greed in your heart

What the child offers us is a brand new restart

You see, when he came among us he seemed quite plain

But if we really knew the degree of his domain

We would see that in this child’s face we meet our creator

And in this small child we see that God is no evil dictator

But, rather, kind and willing to bend to meet our eyes

Like a father who is loving and infinitely wise

He came to be with us, and show us his face

In order that we might have a lasting embrace

He entered a world that was broken and fallen

Filled with pain and sorrow and people like Stalin

He came to correct what had gone wrong

Where we were weak, he became strong

Where we were tempted he continued to fight

As a human being he would be our white knight

He would fight for us against every foe

And his victory on us he would bestow

He even fought death, the dark grim reaper

And came out on top, as if in the grave he was merely a sleeper.

And so he looks for cold hearts that have shrunk with hate

And looks for a door, a window, or small gate

So he can enter in and fill them with love

That they might grow large and the hate be disposed of

You see he came to show us who we were meant to be

Lives filled with God’s love, courageous and free

And so, Mr. Grinch, what you felt in your heart,

Was Christ’s presence giving you love to impart

And the Grinch finally got it, His heart and his head

Were knit together with one loving thread

His eyes filled with wonder and his grin grew bigger

His heart grew another size and was renewed with vigor

He finally saw how Christmas still came

How the whos kept on singing, in spite of his game

In his heart he saw the small child in the manger

Love incarnate, risking the danger

To show us God’s care and infinite grace

But above all, to show us his face