I will admit that the fact that there are 5,000 different film versions of this story makes it one that people get sick of pretty quick. I get that. But seriously, don't put down the story just because it doesn't make you feel as good as Frosty the Snowman does. If you're looking for a good film version check out Disney's A Christmas Carol, The Muppet's Christmas Carol (my personal fav) or the version with George C. Scott as Scrooge.
So where am I going with this you might ask? What is the point to all of this inane ranting? I'm coming to it...I have to build up to it because I may offend people here and me, I am not so good at offending people and then dealing with it later. But anyway, deep breath, here goes:
My secret is that I love A Christmas Carol because it makes me uncomfortable. I love it because on some level it is a reproach and it scares me. And let me just interject here that if you can read these passages and not be scared more power to you...but I can't:
"It is required of every man," the Ghost (of Jacob Marley) returned, "that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death. It is doomed to wander through the world--oh, woe is me!--and witness what it cannot share, but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness!"
and...
"But you were always a good man of business, Jacob," faltered Scrooge who now began to apply this to himself.
"Business!' cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. "Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were all my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!"
and finally regarding the plight of Tiny Tim...
"If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, none other of my race," returned the Ghost (of Christmas Present), "will find him here. What then? If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."
Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the Spirit, and was overcome with penitence and grief.
"Man," said the Ghost,"if man you be in heart, not adamant, forbear that wickend cant until you have discovered What the surplus is, and Where it is. Will you decide what men shall live, what men shall die? It may be that, in the sight of Heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man's child. Oh, God! to hear the Insect on the leaf pronouncing on the too much life among his hungry brothers in the dust!"
Those passages are seriously powerful and they go straight into my heart and convict me every time I read them. Very few stories seem to have the power to do that everytime but for me, this one does. And the truth is that there are dozens of other excerpts from this story that are just as powerful, I just don't feel like I need to repeat them all here. If you're interested in the story and what I'm saying here then you'll go out and find it yourself and if you aren't, you won't.
So, once again, where am I going with this? Well, I'll tell you. I think that it's good for us to confront things that make us uncomfortable. If we don't ever do that then how do we grow? If you only ever expose yourself (not like that) to things that reinforce what you think and that make you feel good then explain to me how you continue to develop as a person. I can tell you one thing--that wouldn't get me anywhere. Being smacked in the face with something that teaches me a new idea or knocks me down a rung or two on the ladder of feeling high and mighty? Now that helps me out. It doesn't feel too good, but sometimes it's good to be reminded of what's really important, what I'm really on this earth for, and how short I usually manage to fall. I think being reminded of those things is good--even if it's tough to hear sometimes.
This story is in the end a story about a change of heart. It's about having a spirit of thankfulness and giving. It's a story that Dickens told to indict everyone for their selfish hearts as well as to show them that anyone, no matter how far gone, can change. And by the way, Scrooge changes with absolutely no promises from the Spirits that changing his life will grant him redemption which I think is an amazing thing to remember.
We're on this earth for such a short time. We ought to be doing our best to make each other's lives pleasant instead of miserable. It's all about your heart, your spirit, not your pocketbook. It's all about loving those around you as much as you love yourself (I could swear I've heard that somewhere else before) and that's something that I struggle with a lot. So every now and then I need a little Christmas Carol just to remind me to put things back into perspective.
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