There is seldom a Christmas Eve when I don't watch the 1951 classic "A Christmas Carol" with Alistair Sim. It has been a tradition since they started showing in on TV back in the late 50s or early 60s. There are plenty of messages that the movie sends. Perhaps the strongest is one of awakening and redemption.
It was a painful process that finally brought Scrooge to his Christmas epiphany. He promised that he would "honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year." Startled shock did not do it. Reliving his past sadnesses and joys did not. Experiencing the suffering of others didn’t either. It was being faced with his own mortality and the fact that time was at hand which delivered him to an awakening.
We always think that there is plenty of time. We will give to charity when we are better off financially, spend time with the kids when we aren’t so busy, visit an old friend next week or call that special relative later. But time is at hand for us just as it was for Ebenezer Scrooge. Christmas reminds us that we have an opportunity, right now, to change the way that we operate. It is about redemption, reconciliation, forgiveness and a celebration of life. It is about new birth.
Merry Christmas to all!
