A Christmas Lesson for All of Us.

What Lesson does Scrooge have for us ?

Ebenezer Scrooge is probably one of Charles Dickens most famous characters. Every Christmas there are plays, cartoons and films which star this famous figure. We all know the story of how a mean, selfish, spiritually blind and cruel man became kind and benevolent through a series of traumatic encounters with four ghosts – these encounters transform Scrooge from a miser into a virtual saint. I'm writing about it because it's a story I have loved since I was a child and hold before me as a model of how we, ourselves, ought to behave towards others. If I am tempted to be mean or cruel ,or to be less than generous I think of Scrooge and the following exchange:

“Plenty of prisons,’ said the gentleman, laying down the  pen again.’And the Union workhouses.’ demanded Scrooge. ‘Are  they still in operation?’
‘Both very busy, sir.’
‘Oh. I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course,’ said Scrooge. ‘I’m very glad to hear it.’
‘Under the impression that they scarcely furnish Christian cheer of mind or body to the multitude,’ returned the gentleman, ‘a few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the Poor some meat and drink, and means of warmth. We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices. What shall I put you down for?’
‘Nothing!’ Scrooge replied.
‘You wish to be anonymous?’
‘I wish to be left alone,’ said Scrooge. ‘Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. I don’t make merry myself at Christmas and I can’t afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned-they cost enough; and those who are badly off must go there.’
‘Many can’t go there; and many would rather die.’
‘If they would rather die,’ said Scrooge, ‘they had better  do it, and decrease the surplus population.”
We can still hear such opinions today about our own poor and unemployed. The ghosts show Scrooge how love, warmth, affection and generosity can transform his life from one of absolute poverty to one of joy and giving. A Christmas message for everybody. Scrooge was liberated from the deadness of his spiritual prison by doing good to others and so becoming a better person himself. What greater message could there be at this time of the year than the hope ,that we may all learn with Scrooge, that loving others is the secret to being loved ourselves.