I was in the first grade back when they still performed Christmas pageants in schools (fewer than 50 years, but still a very long time ago), and our class performed a version of A Charlie Brown Christmas. Since I was kind of a bookworm and already had a blue blanket, I was chosen to play the part of Linus. As Linus, I memorized Luke 2:8–14, and that scripture has been hidden in my heart ever since.

But while working so diligently to learn those lines, there is one important thing I didn’t notice until now.

Right in the middle of speaking, Linus drops the blanket.

Charlie Brown is best known for his yellow striped shirt, and Linus is most associated with his ever-present security blanket. Throughout the story of Peanuts, Lucy, Snoopy, Sally, and others all work to no avail to separate Linus from his blanket. And even though his security blanket remains a major source of ridicule for the otherwise mature and thoughtful Linus, he simply refuses to give it up.

Until this moment. When he simply drops it.

In that climactic scene when Linus shares what “Christmas is all about,” he drops his security blanket, and I am now convinced that this is intentional. Most telling is the specific moment he drops it: when he utters the words “fear not” (at :38 seconds).