A Christmas Carol

Christmas is my favorite time of year. All the tradition and anticipation. The decorations, the snow, the excitement, the bustle of the season. I love it all. We begin it every year by going to see 'A Christmas Carol' at the Hale Center Theatre. It began with Jeff and I. Our anniversary is December 18th and it was a nice way to celebrate together. Then Jeffrey wanted to come with us. So we told him that when he turned 7 he could. This was his third year and Owen's first. Jeffrey knew just what to expect and did all  he could to scare the pants off Owen. The ghost of Christmas future is a little spooky...and then there's all that fog to add to the drama. So with a boy on each side of me, we settled in for a night of holiday cheer. Jeffrey recited the lines by heart. Owen clung to my arm in anticipation. And I sat back and enjoyed it all. Every year is a little different. And every year I get something different out of it. This year we happened to be reading 'A Christmas Carol' for our ward book club. We met at my house the next night, while it was all fresh in my mind. We talked about our favorite parts of the book, the scenes, the characters, the story. I thought about what it was for me. And I knew. The ghost of Christmas future shows Scrooge a scene of the Cratchit family after Tiny Tim has died. Mrs. Cratchit and the children are waiting for Bob Cratchit to return from work, talking about how concerned they are for him and his grief over their son and brother. He comes through the door and they greet him so tenderly. He tells his wife that he has been to the cemetery, that it would have done her good to see how green the place was, how Tiny Tim would have loved it there. They talk of their boy, their grief so close to the surface, so tangible. And it struck me that in the midst of their sadness, the one thing that came through was their concern for one another, before themselves. Mrs. Cratchit thought only of her husband. The mother who had lost her child, the worst of all grief, and did not think of herself. The father who through his grief showed only love and kindness to his children. I love that scene. I love how Dickens captures the simplicity of the season in his characters. That through this humble family the entire meaning of Christmas comes through with such clarity. I tend to get caught up in the season, to lose sight of what it really means. With all the presents and baking and cleaning and shopping I am so busy I forget to remember how simple it should be. It is the celebration of all that is lovely and good in life. It began with a birth, in the most humble of circumstances. It celebrates the life of a simple carpenter. It has nothing to do with all of the things that consume my mind during this time of year. Dicken's got it right. The message of this season is simple, it is thinking about others before yourself. It is loving the people around you all the time. It is asking God to bless us, every one of us. That is Christmas.