The story of Ebenezer Scrooge is one that I’ve always found fascinating. He is the grumpy main character in the book, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The premise of the story seems to be that Scrooge has no time for anyone and hates everything that he considers frivolous about Christmas. However, there is more to Scrooge than first appears. Initially, it’s obvious that Scrooge is stingy, greedy, and unfriendly.
I can’t help but feel for him because these traits leave him all alone. In the story, we see the trauma he endured at a young age. His Christmases were spent alone and when the Ghost of Christmas Past showed him those scenes from his childhood, he cried over the pain he remembered. Scrooge still had feelings for the woman he once loved. He found that he was good with money and as his business mentor praised him, it brought him happiness. But somewhere along the line he associated love with money and began to shut people out of his life.
In many ways, Scrooge reminds me of the Grinch: someone who was an outcast because of his own actions, who drove people away and suffered from the loneliness he had brought about. The Grinch also hated all the joy of Christmas because it highlighted all that he didn’t have.
But both characters never got opportunities to truly understand about love. At the end of each story, they discovered the true joy of Christmas that opened their lives to the love they had always needed. Christmas has a way of softening our spirits and growing our hearts.
During the season of Advent, embrace the true spirit of Christmas and let it permeate your life. Be intentional about spending time with loved ones. Consider the love that is revealed in the birth of Jesus and let it shape the love you share with the world around you. The more you embrace love, the more it embraces you.
This Christmas, open your life to the love that Christ brings to you!
Brooks Lambert, Ministry Intern
