“It is a time above all others when want is keenly felt …
And abundance rejoices.” Long before I read the Bible, I was fortunate to be exposed to a world where things like kindness, courage, sacrifice and generosity were celebrated. This exposure came mainly through the influence of my fourth grade teacher Mrs. Eckhardt. She instilled in me a love of reading and I consumed books like The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Secret Garden, The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe, and Heidi. Television at the time was also a source of inspiring tales like It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street but the one story that had the biggest impact on me was Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
It is the tale of how life had twisted and damaged the soul of Ebenezer Scrooge through the neglect and rejection of his father. The story relates how he resolved to never be dependent upon anyone for his acceptance and provision again. He would reject others before he was rejected. No matter that he had received love and kindness from some it was not enough to overcome the initial rejection of his father. Hence, he ends up a very wealthy and even more so miserly man with no warmth of relationship to soften his heart. “A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping clutching, covetous, old sinner.”
As you probably know, the conviction of three spirits (the result of his former partner, Marley’s, intervention) brings about repentance and Scrooge ends up “as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew.” I can quote the story by heart because I listen to Patrick Stewart’s rendition every year without fail.
As a child, I identified more with poor Bob Cratchit’s family than the gnarled old Scrooge. We were “underprivileged” and many Christmases were sparse and thin. Now I recognize that in many ways I am much more like Scrooge. Oh not the greedy and cunning Scrooge but the redeemed and repentant Scrooge. I can see how the prayers of others resulted in my own encounter with a spirit, the Holy Spirit, and how that encounter released healing over the disappointments and damage of my earliest years.
There is more of Christ in A Christmas Carol than you may suspect. Scrooge became a man who “knew how to keep Christmas well.” Oh! This is my prayer! Let us also be a people who know how to keep Christmas! I didn’t say “celebrate” Christmas but keep it. To keep the knowledge of repentance, forgiveness, changed and healed lives close throughout the year and to respond courageously in kindness, sacrifice, and generosity at every opportunity.
Merry Christmas my friends. I pray this finds you warm and satisfied and surrounded by love. And may God bless us, every one!