This year we are reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, who also happens to be one of my favorite authors. The first time I was introduced to this story was by Donald Duck and his little Nephews in Mickey's Christmas Carol. Some say Dickens wrote it to revive Christmas traditions which seemed to be dying out. And of course to remind man to forget about himself and give to those less fortunate.
Although some have called A Christmas Carol a secular story, it’s clear to whoever reads it carefully that without Christ, the "mighty Founder" of Christmas, there is no reason to celebrate. As Scrooge’s nephew, Fred, explains, nothing about Christmas can be separate from "the veneration due to its sacred name and origin." This is what gives meaning to Scrooge’s resolution at the end of the story: "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year."
It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, “God Bless Us, Every One!
If there’s hope for mean old Scrooge, Dickens is saying, there must be hope for each of us. And there is hope for each of us, through the atonement of Jesus Christ.
Charles Dickens left his children with his own testimony of Christ and requested it not be published, but that it should be kept in the family. After the last of his children died, the family decided to share the book with the world and published The Life of Our Lord by Charles Dickens. The book begins...
"My Dear Children, I am very anxious that you should know something about the History of Jesus Christ. For everybody ought to know about Him. No one ever lived who was so good, so kind, so gentle, and so sorry for all people who did wrong, or were in any way ill or miserable, as He was."
I can't think of a more beautiful gift, than your own testimony.
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