Accepting: A Christmas Carol

Would we change how we live if we were forced to see what our past was really like? Would we change if we saw how it affects our present? Or if we saw what our future will become if the present does not change? Ebeneezer Scrooge has this chance in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, first published in 1843. On Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by spirits in an effort to warn him to change his ways. The story is well known, has received multiple film adaptations, and is where the terms "scrooge" for a miser and "bah humbug" for grumpiness at Christmas originate. Scrooge is changed when he accepts not only the wrong choices he has made, but also the fact that he does not have to live that way anymore. He becomes free to be a better person.

On a deeper level, A Christmas Carol is about how each person has the hope to change. We do not have to remain as we are. Christmas is about hope, the hope that all things will be as they should. It is about possibility. We see that at Christmas. Even those who are not believers in Jesus smile a little brighter and care a little more. The season is infectious. Yet, every year we strive for more and for something different. We strive for a fulfillment that will last. I know that when I dwell on my past I am either empty or often filled with regret. There are so many things I wish I had done differently, so many things I wish I had said. If I stay in the past, though, my present and future become my past. This is what Scrooge saw. I do not want this. I want to be free. I want to be content. I want to hope. A Christmas Carol reminds me of the hope there is in change. We do not have to remain the same. Change takes courage and a willingness to do something different. Change takes strength. So does hope.

Hope came down over 2000 years ago in the smallest and most unlikeliest of forms. Love broke through into our lives. The world would never be the same as again. There is uncertainty in that, but there is also joy. Expecting. Preparing. Rejoicing. Accepting. All leading up to the day that is different from all other days. It is the hope of Christmas and all will be as it should. Change will happen, and hope is restored. What a merry thought indeed!
God bless us, everyone!

Comments

B4C FAMILY said…
Thank you for allowing God to use you. This post is very encouraging. I thank God for you.
5:48 PM
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