A Little Help Goes a Long Way

“She laid him in a manger because there was no room for him in the inn,” begins the most widely known Advent story. Another one known almost as well begins: “Marley was dead…there is no doubt whatever about that. Old Marley was as dead as a doornail.”

This is Charles Dickens’ classic, “The Christmas Carol,” of course, and it has been a holiday favorite for 150 years now. Certainly, you know the story; Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly, tight-fisted old man “bahs” and “humbugs” his way through the Christmas season with no concern for his fellow man.

Thus, the author has Scrooge being haunted by three spirits: The ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Future. This was Dickens’ creative and prophetic effort to correct an attitude, not restricted to one hardened, curmudgeon of a man, insulated by his money and greed. Dickens was writing to his entire society.

Dickens…