One of my favorite after Christmas activities is to burn the trash. It is a quiet moment I can enjoy as the wrapping paper slowly burns. The burning paper, as it emits differnet colors like a kalediscope, reminds me of how fleeting and temporal things are. Yet at the same time encourages me how I need to stay bright. This process also reminds me of one of my favorite movies, A Christmas Carol.
I made some observations from the 1951 movie, A Christmas Carol, which I believe relate. One of the scenes is when Scrooge is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Present. The scene begins as Scrooge enters a room and the ghost, who appears to be a king on his throne, is seated next to a fireplace surrounded by a feast.
Scrooge responds negatively to the ghost after he has been shown the positive aspects of Christmas, “I am too old, I am beyond hope, go and redeem some younger, more promising creature and leave me to keep Christmas in my own way.”
The Christmas spirit replies, “Mortal, we spirits of Christmas do not live but only one day of the year, we live the whole three hundred and sixty five. So is it true of the child born in Bethlehem, he does not live in men’s hearts only one day a year, but in all the days of the year. But you have chosen not to seek him in your heart. Therefore you shall come with me and seek him in the hearts of men of goodwill.”
Of course at the end of the movie, Scrooge decides to change his life for the better and set fire, so to speak, his old way of doing things. A line that exemplifies this is when Scrooge apologizes to his nephew, Fred, admitting the error of his ways, “Can you forgive a pig headed old fool for having no eyes to see with, no ears to hear with, for all these years?”
But my favorite part is at the very end, when the narrator states….
“Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; ………….and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us!”
Just imagine, if we all lived life with such enthusiasm, it would be like a slow burn no one could refute.
Swavel
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Crooked Logic
Ever find yourself going back in time? It happens to me every year when I get the Christmas decorations out of the shed. The whole experience always makes me get all nostalgic. It seems to me we all have our favorite decorations that make Christmas, well Christmas for us and until we find said items the festivities cannot truly begin.
In our family my youngest daughter has her Hallmark China Christmas ball, my son has various Chicago Bears ornaments, and I have a homemade snowman from a childhood friend. But, my wife has a special candy cane we always must locate before anything can really begin. Allow me to explain.
Several years ago, I came home one December day to find my six-year-old, eldest daughter had been out Christmas shopping and had selected a unique gift for her mom. Alisha was so proud of the lawn ornament sized candy cane she had purchased that despite the persistence of her brother and I refused to exchange it for a more suitable gift.
When Christmas arrived my wife opened her gift from our daughter as I snickered and smugly opened a can of chips Alisha had given to me. At the time, I appeared to have the more appropriate gift. As it turned out six months later, our daughter, Alisha, at the age of seven would change her address to Heaven.
Each year I am reminded as I look at the candy cane, that hangs in our house in a place of prominence, that the most unlikely gifts truly hold the most eternal significance. God, like the shepherd's cane, seems to use crooked logic to remind us what is most important during the Christmas season, His son, Jesus. It truly is the best gift that we could ever give or receive; yet so often to our discredit we would rather receive a can of chips.
“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift.” 2 Corinthians 9:15
Swavel
In our family my youngest daughter has her Hallmark China Christmas ball, my son has various Chicago Bears ornaments, and I have a homemade snowman from a childhood friend. But, my wife has a special candy cane we always must locate before anything can really begin. Allow me to explain.
Several years ago, I came home one December day to find my six-year-old, eldest daughter had been out Christmas shopping and had selected a unique gift for her mom. Alisha was so proud of the lawn ornament sized candy cane she had purchased that despite the persistence of her brother and I refused to exchange it for a more suitable gift.
When Christmas arrived my wife opened her gift from our daughter as I snickered and smugly opened a can of chips Alisha had given to me. At the time, I appeared to have the more appropriate gift. As it turned out six months later, our daughter, Alisha, at the age of seven would change her address to Heaven.
Each year I am reminded as I look at the candy cane, that hangs in our house in a place of prominence, that the most unlikely gifts truly hold the most eternal significance. God, like the shepherd's cane, seems to use crooked logic to remind us what is most important during the Christmas season, His son, Jesus. It truly is the best gift that we could ever give or receive; yet so often to our discredit we would rather receive a can of chips.
“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift.” 2 Corinthians 9:15
Swavel
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