But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? – 1 John 3:17
All families have seasonal traditions, whether they are hosting an annual garage sale, putting out Fall pumpkins, camping out at Best Buy on Black Friday, or putting up the family Christmas tree.
At my household, every Christmas my father pulls down our video copy of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, starring George C. Scott. I experience such nostalgia when I watch it. Who doesn’t love the adorable Tiny Tim, or Bob Cratchit, who has to deal with the intolerable Mr. Scrooge? As a child, I had a genuine fear of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. It was very terrifying!
Each year, I am amazed at Charles Dickens’ tale. It is a powerful lesson for each of us. Set in London in the mid-1800’s, we encounter the mean-spirited, shrewd Ebenezer Scrooge. Three different spirits of Christmas visit him and show him how the world was, is, and could be.
Through the Ghost of Christmas Past, we see that Scrooge’s past was filled with hope and love, but he let his heart grow cold through business pursuits. He let his job get in the way of kindness and beginning a family. The Ghost of Christmas Present shows Scrooge the love within his nephew’s household, and the love within the Cratchit household. Here we see the sickly Tiny Tim Cratchit who may not live long “if these shadows remain unaltered by the future.” The third ghost, Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, is enough to show Scrooge how dark the world can be when we choose to remain heartless and ignorant to the needs of the world around us. Scrooge awakens a changed man and chooses to honor Christmas and his fellow man.
“I will live in the past, the present, and the future,” Scrooge repeated as he scrambled out of bed. “The spirits of all three shall strive within me. Oh Jacob Marley. Heaven, and the Christmas Time be praised for this. I say it on my knees, old Jacob, on my knees.”
The birth of Jesus Christ is our gift from God. We are called to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. The Dickens’ tale is a wonderful reminder of how we are to go out into the world and share our love of Christ with others, helping those in need, and changing the world for the better.
“Ghost of the Future, I fear you more than any spectre I have seen. But as I know your purpose is to do me good, and as I hope to live to be another man from what I was, I am prepared to bear you company, and do it with a thankful heart. Will you not speak to me?” – Ebenezer Scrooge in the novel A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Logan Fish, Edmond Campus Director of Hospitality
