{"id":4489,"date":"2013-11-14T14:43:03","date_gmt":"2013-11-14T19:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/faithmediaandculture\/?p=4489"},"modified":"2013-11-14T16:07:11","modified_gmt":"2013-11-14T21:07:11","slug":"airing-this-weekend-hallmark-channels-the-christmas-ornament-sparkles-with-likable-characters-and-unpretentious-wisdom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2013\/11\/airing-this-weekend-hallmark-channels-the-christmas-ornament-sparkles-with-likable-characters-and-unpretentious-wisdom.html","title":{"rendered":"Airing this weekend, Hallmark Channel&#8217;s &#8220;The Christmas Ornament&#8221; sparkles with likable characters and unpretentious wisdom"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture.<\/p>\n<iframe title=\"Hallmark Channel - The Christmas Ornament\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wab6fJuoI9k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p><strong>The <em>Countdown to Christmas<\/em> continues<\/strong>&#8230;<strong><em>The Christmas Ornament<\/em><\/strong> <strong>airs this Saturday night (11\/16) at 8:00 PM ET on<\/strong> <strong>The Hallmark Channel<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333\"><strong>Synopsis (from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hallmarkchannel.com\/thechristmasornament\/about\">The Hallmark Channel website<\/a>)<\/strong>: Newly widowed Kathy (<strong>Kellie Martin<\/strong>) plans to skip out on decking the halls and trimming the tree this Christmas, trying to avoid anything that will bring back memories of her late husband. The only Christmas tradition she will observe is baking cookies for her friends, a passion since she was a child. When Kathy meets handsome Christmas tree shop owner Tim (<strong>Cameron Mathison<\/strong>), their undeniable chemistry &#8211; along with an ornament Tim gives her that symbolizes hope &#8211; helps Kathy open up to the joys of the season again. With the support of her best friend Jenna (<strong>Jewel Staite<\/strong>), and the budding relationship with Tim, Kathy begins to embrace the hopeful message of the ornament.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Although Kathy wants to take a chance on Tim, she struggles to find the balance between preserving the memory of her husband and moving on with her own future. Is the Christmas ornament a sign that she can have a hopeful future?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mini-Review: <\/strong><em>The Christmas Ornament<\/em> is one of those Hallmark Christmas set in an almost magically-idyllic small town populated by really nice people seemingly all concerned about the young grieving widow (Martin) whose husband died about a year ago from an illness or accident that nobody ever sees fit to elaborate on. And, yes, our heroine loves to bake cookies at home while wearing high heels. And, of course, there&#8217;s the impossibly-handsome guy (Mathison) who is brimming with sincerity while overcoming a hurt of his own. In short, it&#8217;s got all the makings of an <em><strong>SNL<\/strong><\/em> spoof.<\/p>\n<p>On the other, as uncool as it may to admit it, most of us wish the world was a little bit more like that (sans the high heels while baking). And, in truth, unlike the supposedly realistic world presented by hipper, edgier films and TV shows, most people are nice &#8212; they just get precious little representation on television. What&#8217;s more, if we can all manage to stow away our media-cultivated cynicism for a couple of hours, the story here is actually quite touching. Who can&#8217;t relate to the struggle to overcome loss and the tentative effort to move forward even while still brokenhearted? Beyond that, the characters actually express wisdom about such things. It&#8217;s not that they say anything we don&#8217;t already know or haven&#8217;t heard before. They just gently remind us of things that we may need to be reminded of now and then.<\/p>\n<p>Though, perhaps, not for cynics (or, maybe, especially for cynics), <strong><em>The Christmas Ornament<\/em> is recommended.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Encourage one another and build each other up \u2013 <\/em><b>1 Thessalonians 5:11<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. The Countdown to Christmas continues&#8230;The Christmas Ornament airs this Saturday night (11\/16) at 8:00 PM ET on The Hallmark Channel. Synopsis (from The Hallmark Channel website): Newly widowed Kathy (Kellie Martin) plans to skip out on decking the halls and trimming the tree this&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3632,24,31],"tags":[35,5845,5843,5846,5844],"class_list":["post-4489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christmas","category-movies","category-television","tag-1-thessalonians-511","tag-cameron-mathison","tag-hallmark-channels-the-christmas-ornament","tag-jewel-staite","tag-kellie-martin"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Airing this weekend, Hallmark Channel&#039;s &quot;The Christmas Ornament&quot; sparkles with likable characters and unpretentious wisdom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2013\/11\/airing-this-weekend-hallmark-channels-the-christmas-ornament-sparkles-with-likable-characters-and-unpretentious-wisdom.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Airing this weekend, Hallmark Channel&#039;s &quot;The Christmas Ornament&quot; sparkles with likable characters and unpretentious wisdom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. The Countdown to Christmas continues&#8230;The Christmas Ornament airs this Saturday night (11\/16) at 8:00 PM ET on The Hallmark Channel. Synopsis (from The Hallmark Channel website): Newly widowed Kathy (Kellie Martin) plans to skip out on decking the halls and trimming the tree this&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2013\/11\/airing-this-weekend-hallmark-channels-the-christmas-ornament-sparkles-with-likable-characters-and-unpretentious-wisdom.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith, Media &amp; Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-11-14T19:43:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-11-14T21:07:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John W. 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The Countdown to Christmas continues&#8230;The Christmas Ornament airs this Saturday night (11\/16) at 8:00 PM ET on The Hallmark Channel. Synopsis (from The Hallmark Channel website): Newly widowed Kathy (Kellie Martin) plans to skip out on decking the halls and trimming the tree this&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2013\/11\/airing-this-weekend-hallmark-channels-the-christmas-ornament-sparkles-with-likable-characters-and-unpretentious-wisdom.html","og_site_name":"Faith, Media &amp; Culture","article_published_time":"2013-11-14T19:43:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-11-14T21:07:11+00:00","author":"John W. Kennedy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2013\/11\/airing-this-weekend-hallmark-channels-the-christmas-ornament-sparkles-with-likable-characters-and-unpretentious-wisdom.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2013\/11\/airing-this-weekend-hallmark-channels-the-christmas-ornament-sparkles-with-likable-characters-and-unpretentious-wisdom.html","name":"Airing this weekend, Hallmark Channel's \"The Christmas Ornament\" sparkles with likable characters and unpretentious wisdom","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-11-14T19:43:03+00:00","dateModified":"2013-11-14T21:07:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2013\/11\/airing-this-weekend-hallmark-channels-the-christmas-ornament-sparkles-with-likable-characters-and-unpretentious-wisdom.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2013\/11\/airing-this-weekend-hallmark-channels-the-christmas-ornament-sparkles-with-likable-characters-and-unpretentious-wisdom.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2013\/11\/airing-this-weekend-hallmark-channels-the-christmas-ornament-sparkles-with-likable-characters-and-unpretentious-wisdom.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Airing this weekend, Hallmark Channel&#8217;s &#8220;The Christmas Ornament&#8221; sparkles with likable characters and unpretentious wisdom"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/","name":"Faith, Media &amp; Culture","description":"Beliefnet Voices - John W. Kennedy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2","name":"John W. Kennedy","description":"John W. Kennedy is the founder and Dir. of Development of The Creative Universe Entertainment\u2122, a media consultation and development company focusing on the creation, development and support of high-quality mainstream entertainment that upholds positive timeless values, including trust in God. Current projects include \"Bryant Park\" (an uplifting romantic-comedy) and \"Photo Finish\" (an award-winning sci-fi TV pilot). He has written over 100 children's novels based on episodes of the Cartoon Network series \"Ben 10\", \"Ben 10: Alien Force\", \"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\", \"Ben 10: Omniverse\" and \"Generator Rex\" among others. He also writes Beliefnet\u2019s \"Faith, Media &amp; Culture\" blog. Previously, he has produced successful news and talk programming for CNN, Fox News, Pax TV and SiriusXM. Specialties: Script Writing, Movie\/TV Novelizations &amp; Adaptations, TV Content Creation and Development, Creative Consultation, Producing and Booking News and Talk shows. He can be reached for writing, producing and consulting services at 516-640-1182.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/author\/jkennedy"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4489"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4492,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4489\/revisions\/4492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}