Merry Christmas!

(Our Christmas Tree a few years ago, in its usual place of honor)

So, a few weeks ago I decided to read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I knew the story well, both from reading it as a family and watching movie adaptions, but there's something about reading a book yourself.
It's quite the story of gaining a change of heart, and has influenced us so much that "Bah! Humbug!" and "Scrooge" have become common terms in our world to express a hatred of Christmas and being miserly. However, after reading the story, I now don't think of that when I hear "Scrooge".
Scrooge is bitter and mean, and is convinced that Christmas is a waste of time and money (since money is the most important thing to have) and would rather that everyone be as miserable as he is. But, after a night of visitations from his old business partner, and the ghosts of past, present, and future, he is changed.  
"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!"
That's the Scrooge I think of: a man who was bitter and horrible, but who was given a second chance, changed, and became a man who truly knew how to keep Christmas well, throughout the rest of his life. It's a story of hope of becoming better, what it really means to keep Christmas well, and also the true meaning and treasures of life that matter. I love how Dickens makes Scrooge a model to follow when he says, "May that truly be said of us, and all of us!"

Last night, my family and I watched a movie that strangely seemed similar to A Christmas Carol.  A good man, in contrast to Scrooge, is faced with failure and decides that everyone would be better without him, almost attempts taking his own life until saved by an angel, to whom he wishes he had never been born. Then he too is given a "vision" of life, only through how it could have been without his influence. He realizes how much he does matter to his family and friends.  Then, after he too begs to be freed from the vision, the entire town shows up and helps him save his family and business from ruin. As the angel tells him, "No man is a failure who has friends." Both being a friend and having friends, he matters and is reminded the value in life and in each individual.
I've seen It's A Wonderful Life many times, but never noticed those small similarities between those two Christmas classics. Both are of two men, though very different, who change, by remarkable visits by spirits or an angel, and learn in their own ways the true meaning of Christmas and the things that really matter in life.

I remember celebrating Christmas when I was nine. We were in Italy, away from home, and couldn't even dream of snow for Christmas. I knew everything I was getting, but that didn't matter. Our tree was made from three fallen tree branches, with a paper chain, an angel made from a handkerchief, and a few ornaments we had collected on that trip and ornaments to give friends. In all respects, it shouldn't have felt like Christmas, but, looking back, I think of that Christmas as my favorite and most cherished. We were away from home, but we were home as a family, really brought together from that trip. It wasn't the presents or the decorations that mattered, it was so much more. (I'll probably post a few of pictures sometime later this week.)
So, enjoy the holiday, and remember what really matters, especially the birth of our Savior.
Merry Christmas!

(a snowy shot a couple of years ago)