+JMJ+
It’s already DAY 10 of The Marketing Trad’s 2023 Advent Calendar, and I’m already thinking about Christmas stories.
The first Christmas story is always the best one, because it’s the reason for the season, right?
The Word of God was made flesh to dwell among us …
The Light of God came into the world, but the darkness couldn’t comprehend it – kind of like it is these days, so not much has changed.
It’s a powerful story, actually, and Catholics should be well acquainted with the basic details like how Mother Mary and St. Joseph go to Bethelhem, but there’s no room in the inn, so Christ is born in a stable and laid in a manger.
There’s a lot more to it than that, especially on the theological level, but those are the key details most people know, even if they’re not Catholic.
Sacred Scripture aside, we have our share of “modern Christmas stories” too that are part of the culture …
And most people know them like the backs of their hands because they grew up with them.
There’s that ’80s movie “A Christmas Story” that I watched every year, the one about little Ralphie Parker, the kid who wanted a Red Ryder BB Gun and everyone told him, “You’ll shoot your eye out!”
The first two “Home Alone” movies are modern “classics.” I don’t have cable, but my guess is those flicks are in heavy rotation this month.
Going further back, you have “It’s a Wonderful Life,” which, in my opinion, is one of the best Christmas movies of all time, right up there with the 1951 version of “A Christmas Carol.” (The 1951 version starring Alastair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge is the only acceptable version to watch … and maybe the one with the Muppets.)
Most people are familiar enough with those stories, so they’re great to work into your emails in December.
I’ll get to the key ingredient here in a moment, but first …
I want to tell you about a different Christmas story.
I came back to the Church 15 years ago, precisely on Christmas Eve of 2008.
At the time, my world was falling apart.
The place where I was working had gone under, which makes sense because, as it turns out …
The operation was a giant ponzi scheme.
There was no money coming in, and I had to crawl back to the place I left, the news channel where I thought I burned my bridges.
Walking around with my head down and my tail between my legs wasn’t the worst part, though.
I was going broke, and fast, and when you have mortgage payments to make with nothing coming in, the pressure starts building.
“Luckily,” I was able to get a night shift at my old job on Christmas Eve.
We didn’t wrap up too late that night. In fact, I had just enough time to get home by around 11 o’clock.
I don’t think I had ever been that depressed before in my life and it felt like I had zero prospects for any hope.
For some reason, and I couldn’t tell you why when it was happening, I started looking online for the nearest Catholic parish.
The sad part is, I had lived in that city for a few years, but I had zero idea of where any of the churches were.
Anyway, I found one that was really close, so I went there, and made my way to the furthest corner in the back I could find, where no one would notice me.
Kneeling there in the pew, with tears in my eyes …
I prayed harder than I can ever remember praying.
To say I had “strayed far from the Church” up to that point in my life would be an understatement, but I’ll save those details for another email.
“God,” I cried, “I’ll turn my whole life around if you help me out!”
That was a hard night, but it was a turning point.
Things started getting better on the job front, and eventually, being the sharp fella that I am, I noticed that it was God who was working in my life …
So I needed to change.
It’s been a long ride since then, but you wouldn’t be reading this right now if it wasn’t for that Christmas Eve 15 years ago.
There’s more to my origin story than that, but that one chapter it’s intimately tied into Christmas.
If you have a story like that, no matter what holiday we’re talking about, you can and SHOULD find a way to use it in your emails.
The key thing I mentioned earlier is that the story needs to have a point, and that point should be related to whatever it is your shilling.
If you need help doing that …
You can book a consultation.
If you apply for yours before Saturday at Midnight, you can get 24% off our meeting in January 2024.
After Saturday, the price goes back up.
To apply, just send a quick email to [email protected].
Stay holy my friend and God bless.
Vic
The Marketing Trad
P.S. The Second Week of The Marketing Trad’s 2023 Advent Calendar is almost over, and we’re continuing to highlight quotes from “Immortale Dei,” the Encyclical Letter from Pope Leo XIII, which is on The Christian Constitution of States:
“There was once a time when States were governed by the philosophy of the Gospel. Then it was that the power and divine virtue of Christian wisdom had diffused itself throughout the laws, institutions, and morals of the people, permeating all ranks and relations of civil society. Then, too, the religion instituted by Jesus Christ, established firmly in befitting dignity, flourished everywhere, by the favour of princes and the legitimate protection of magistrates; and Church and State were happily united in concord and friendly interchange of good offices. The State, constituted in this wise, bore fruits important beyond all expectation, whose remembrance is still, and always will be, in renown, witnessed to as they are by countless proofs which can never be blotted out or ever obscured by any craft of any enemies.”