"Scrooge"

One of the most beloved stories of all time is Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol”. Virtually everyone knows the story of the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge visited by 3 ghosts and the ghost of his dead partner Jacob Marley. Almost everyone also knows Scrooge has a catharsis, repents and we are led to believe lived the rest of his days loving others and in turned being loved. Not as many people know that Dickens wrote this story near the peak of his fame and intended it to be more than a Christmas tale of doing good deeds for others. Dickens was so traumatized as a child of 12 seeing his father tossed into debtors prison that he spent the rest of his life obsessed with not ever being poor and also pointing his long quill at the English Government for allowing decent people to be tossed in prisons, children routinely sent to forced labor prison camps for stealing a loaf of bread, children executed on hearsay testimony of adults and countless other societal outrages. Scrooge was the (one-man) representation of the English Government, the English legal system, the English class struggle.  Dickens wanted Scrooge’s redemption to be his countries redemption. History shows us his country didn’t change as much as Dickens would have liked. So much for 19^th Century England, what about today? What about today? 

Scrooge has lessons for us in this time and place too.  People can change can’t they?   

Consider:

One thing we can say about Ebenezer is he took care of himself.  He built up and ran a prosperous business, amassed money and security. Is there anything wrong with that? Of course not. We should learn how to take care of ourselves. We should save money (English call it “put a nickel by” for a time when we will need more money than we have. We all know those days come around. Working hard, and moving forward, is taking care of us.

However, Scrooge only accumulated money and financial security. He thought that was the end all be all: game, set, and match. This is where we must go farther. We have to get outside ourselves and see it’s more about the person across from us than it is about us.

The reason (in the story) that Scrooge is floating above the city, transparent to others is because Scrooge had to get outside himself to see others.  In doing that he understands life is a balancing act. Taking care of us keeps us going; taking care of other people is our lasting foot print in this world.

Scrooge made a promise to God, or the Universe (take your pick) and to himself that he would change, that he would help others and according to the story “he was true to his word”. A person hasn’t really changed unless the change is permanent. A New Year’s Resolution? Going on a Diet?  These aren’t changes; they are reminders to us from us that we need to change.

A memo to self is not change. How do we get outside ourselves (let’s assume we won’t be visited by 3 ghosts)?

Well the next time you see your kid(s) hug and kiss them. You cannot do it too much. No one has ever said, “You know, your honor, where I went wrong was when I was a kid and my parents hugged and kissed me too many times”. You have a spouse or GF/BF? Then find a way to let them know they have done something you have appreciated.

Beyond our own personal connections find someone each day that you can extend a simple, small kindness to. Just one word from you could make all the difference to someone else. If you don’t run into anyone today, don’t worry you will tomorrow.

The lesson, of that great story, is not that we should buy lots of presents at Christmas or that we should feel guilty at trying to be financially secure. The lesson to me is that there is something just as important (or more?) and that is routinely getting outside us, seeing others and helping others in some way.