The
Boy who Cried Christmas
By
Dennis Baily
If you look at the title of this book, along with
artwork displayed on the cover, you will draw the conclusion that this book was
written for children. After all, the phrase “The boy who cried Christmas”
harkens back to the old adage, “The boy who cried wolf,” a traditional folk
tale intended to teach children not to lie. The cover of this book shows a
modern-day boy looking over the historic town of Bethlehem- the bright star in
the sky telling us that this is about the Nativity of Christ. This cover is illustrated
like any other children’s book. The main character is 9-year-old Logan who gets
transported back in time witness the birth of Christ. Everything suggests that
this book was written for children.
So, you can imagine that when I came to certain scenes
in the book, I was very much surprised. How is it appropriate in a children’s
book to read about an FBI agent who is so depressed that he is going to “eat
his gun?” Should a child really be reading about this same FBI agent talking
about apprehending sex offenders and pedophiles? Also, another character named
Wendel, a staunch atheist, is said to visit prostitutes, engage is some weird
fetish like sniffing a girl’s hair and also plans to murder by constructing a
bomb to advance the cause of Atheism. Is
this in anyway appropriate for children? I think not!
As I continued in the book, I came to realize that
this book is NOT intended for children but rather meant to be a serious read
for adults. To be honest, I felt like I
was lied to. I mean many things in this writing suggest that the intended
audience was children. The author Dennis
Baily does a masterful job of describing the birth of Christ from one child’s
viewpoint. It is the highlight of the
story and the whole book is worth reading if just to read this one part. Also,
the dialogue and inner thoughts of 9-year-old Logan, displayed in the book are
done well and I could easily see it in a child’s tale. So, if I view this book
as written for adults instead of for children, how does the book do?
Well, to be honest, as a story for adults, it is
somewhat lacking. I say somewhat because
the book is not wholly bad and, in may ways, it is actually good.. But two characters
in the book are a little “over the top.”
What I mean is Wendell is supposed to be an atheist who seems to hate a
non-existent god. Wendell reminds me of the poorly written professor in the
“God’s Not Dead” movie. Just a straw man version of an atheist, with not much
depth or believability. Not many people can relate to this character because I
don’t think anyone has met someone like this in real life. Even Richard Dawkins, who is an active
atheist, has a believable personality (because he is a real person) Although
Professor Dawkins is a convinced atheist, he has, like all people, good points.
For example, He stands in awe of Nature, even if he doesn’t acknowledge a
Creator for Nature. Richard Dawkins is
believable; Wendell is not. The same
criticism can be made for Logan’s father who is also an atheist. Just a straw
man with no depth.
This criticism notwithstanding, I actually did enjoy
reading the book. One minor pet-peeve I have is that the portrayal of Robert.
He is supposed to be an angel and yet Robert is actually someone who died
during World War II and became an angel.
I think the author, Dennis Baily, is a convinced Christian and should probably
should have known that this goes against the Scriptures.
One thing in this story, I absolutely love is a
dialogue towards the end of the book. It is between the angel Robert and the
depressed FBI agent (named Marcus) who lost his wife on Christmas. Robert
starts off by giving some good advice.
“Here are
a few other things to help reduce the pain of losing her on Christmas. Don’t
make December 25th just about Jesus.
Make it celebration of your wife as well. After all, it may have been
His first day on earth, but it was her first day in heaven. Also, why not try doing some of the things
she used to love to do at Christmas, like decorating your apartment, putting up
a tree, or-“
“If you
say baking cookies, angel or not, ‘m going to slug you.”
Robert
snickered. “No, I wasn’t going to say that, but I was going to suggest you go
back to church, at least on Christmas Eve, as a memorial to her.”
“That I
can handle.”
“Do you
donate to charity?”
“Not much
since Carolyn died.”
“Well,
then, now’s a good time to resume.
Better yet, create your own foundation that accepts donations at
Christmas and name it for your wife. Donate the money to whatever charity was
her favorite.”
What I love about this passage is it doesn’t have the strong-arm
approach to witnessing to the “unsaved” that is prevalent in many Evangelical
Christian books. It’s not the four spiritual laws, or the Roman Roads or a
pressuring of the FBI agent to say the “sinner’s prayer.” Rather, Robert treats
Marcus as an individual and proscribes spiritual direction to him, based on his
situation. It’s not a spiritual mandate,
one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, Marcus is treated by the angel as, I
believe, God treats us- as a unique person. Well done, Dennis Baily!
This is a good book to read, especially around
Christmas time but don’t make the mistake I did and presume it is meant for children. It is not.
