The Lesson in A Christmas Carol

 

For decades I have read, watched, and listened to Dickens' great classic A Christmas Carol.

Reading it as Dickens wrote it is a needed lesson in the skill of the written word to move us. Dickens had a definite finger on the pulse of the complexity of man and was able to write real three dimensional characters. 

Over the course of technology and time this story has been told in many ways with many different actors playing the part of Ebenezer Scrooge. George C Scott is my personal favorite and I'm sure you have yours as well. 

We have been able to translate this complex story into formats that appeal to children, as cartoons with characters depicted as humans and sometimes animals.  Whatever works.........whatever gets the story across. The story of how a bitter, mean and miserly old man has a gutwrenching conversion of attitude and becomes a benevolent benefactor to the human race. 

Dickens is to be commended for touching on some of the heartbreaking reasons Scrooge behaved as he did but I think most of the time we miss those parts because we are so concentrated on what an old poop he is and how miserable he makes everyone else. Don’t we do that today? We never think or consider the damage done to someone. Or make allowances for the baggage they are forced to drag through life and their inability to handle those things. And we certainly don’t give a thought to how hard it must be for them especially when they are made to feel horrible for not conforming to our ideas of how they should behave.

Today I watched this story again and was suddenly struck that the character of  Scrooge is NOT the message that Dickens intended us to receive. Certainly, none of us willingly wants to be that person that everyone shies away from and so that is merely the vehicle being used to teach the real lesson.

The real lesson in this story is the lesson of forgiveness.

Imagine if after Scrooge had his epiphany and started to make amends everyone had simply turned their backs on him and ignored his heartfelt attempt to be a better man. He certainly didn't deserve a second chance, he deserved to have doors slammed in his face and not be invited to people's celebrations. He deserved their hatred and their set jawed attitude of unwillingness to try again with him. And yet, every single one of them were willing to take him at his worst anyway. They continued to try to gather him in.

But, they didn't ostracize him.

To a person, they welcomed him with open arms realizing that their own ability to forget, to forgive and to love was a lesson they needed to share and he needed to know.  It was in their acceptance of the man Scrooge was that his new beginning was made manifest in his life as the person he wished to be.

I would urge you the next time you enjoy this holiday staple that you watch it with new eyes and discuss with your children and grandchildren what the real and true message of this story is. It isn't about changing someone to your way of thinking or behaving.  It is about embracing people as they are, where they stand and always hoping for their AH-HA moment to bring them to their own realization of what needs to change. I am pretty sure that Jesus feels much the same way and everyday he loves us right where we are in spite of our warts and scars.  And when we say "sorry" he always responds, he always answers and he always loves.