God Bless Us, Every One!

If you haven't read Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol in  a while (or ever!), please consider reading this gem again over the Advent season: Read it together as a family, with a friend, or on your own. The story is rife with biblical themes, and Dickens wisely reminds us of our tendency to shrug off life's most beautiful moments in pursuit of our earthly paths.

Consider this moment when Scrooge first encounters a ghost:

“You are fettered," said Scrooge, trembling. "Tell me why?"
"I wear the chain I forged in life," replied the Ghost. "I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it.”

Or this moment of wisdom:

“For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.”

Or these realizations as Scrooge awakens:

“He went to the church, and walked about the streets, and watched the people hurrying to and for, and patted the children on the head, and questioned beggars, and looked down into the kitchens of homes, and up to the windows, and found that everything could yield him pleasure. He had never dreamed of any walk, that anything, could give him so much happiness.”

Or Scrooge's conclusions as he opens his heart to the miracle of Christmas:

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.”

What ghosts do you need to confront as we prepare for the gift of the Christ child on Christmas Eve? How will you emerge from this Advent season transformed and amazed by the mercy, grace, and hope of the Holy Spirit?

Blessings on your Advent week,

Jennie