“The Christmas Carol,” by Charles Dickens seems to resonate from generation to generation. It is filled with ghosts, memories, poverty, illness, ignorance and want. Dickens was speaking from experience as he wrote this story of a stingy old man named Ebenezer Scrooge. It is a lifetime journey of a bitter fellow who doesn’t know the meaning of kindness. We’ve all met someone like Scrooge. He or she might be that boss that we recall who travels on a posh vacation while his employees’ hours are cut. It could be someone who has just suffered a loss of someone special in their life and has become bitter because of it. Maybe it’s a pair of homeless children, running from an abusive situation to escape any further abuse. Another example is someone who is far away from family and angry because a face-to-face conversation can only be accomplished through technology. The reasons for a not-so-merry Christmas are many.

All of us have reasons to be angry, bitter, cheap, depressed or anxious about Christmas. A year goes by, and we’re expected to be all jolly and generous. We spend more than we should, we max out the credit cards and the best gift becomes a competition of sorts. Charles Dickens grew up in a time like this. There were the rich and the poor – much like today. The rich celebrated lavishly with special food and laughter. It was a merry time for them. Many of the children of the day lived in poverty, were exposed to disease and early death. Education wasn’t an option for these little ones. They had to go to work, beg for food or go without.

This week we’ll be trimming Christmas trees, shopping for the last-minute gifts, singing carols of joy and praise. We’ll stress out because something isn’t right. The perfect Christmas we see in pictures on Pinterest, bomb royally in our own homes. The only perfect Christmas took place a couple thousand years ago as one of those poverty-stricken families made their way across rugged terrain to register for the census. A child would be born. He would be the hope of all nations, the Prince of Peace, the Son of God. The true joy of Christmas comes in the first birthday of Jesus. He alone was born to save us all.

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol