Norm and I try to attend a live version of the “Christmas Carol” each year. In New York we saw it at Proctor’s Theater in Schenectady and here in Tennessee, we go to the Clarence Brown Theater in Knoxville. Post Covid, we enjoyed being able to see it in person this year.
I love to watch “A Christmas Carol” in all its variations. Many men and women have given their acting tribute to how they envision Scrooge. Each director brings his/her own emphasis. Some follow Dicken’s original story carefully, others take a bit of liberty with their interpretation. But each one inspires me to consider my own life and how I relate to others.
Some of the things I consider:
- A focus on money or possessions corrupts our lives and relationships. God is the only one worthy of our undivided attention.
But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 1 Timothy 6:8-10
- Taking care of the poor is a number one priority. God allows us to share in His concern for the poor by giving us many opportunities to give, time and money.
If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs. Deuteronomy 15:7-8
- Even the person you consider beyond hope, is not.
Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:4-10
Remember the words of Tiny Tim, “God bless us every one.” Let’s look for ways to extend God’s blessing to others.
TRICIA LATHROP 