Charles Dickens, Scrooge and the Prophet Samuel
“Marley was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that.”
If you are into the history and celebration of Christmas then you have likely heard or read those words. They are the opening lines to the beloved holiday classic, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. As most of you likely are aware, the story begins by introducing us very quickly to the characters of Ebenezer Scrooge and his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley. Seven years after his death Marley appears to Scrooge dragging his heavy chains and money boxes which were forged by him in a lifetime of greed and selfishness. According to the Dickens story, he has been doomed to carry those weights with him for eternity. The fate will be similar for the miserly Scrooge if the course of his life, and the condition of his heart, is not altered.
His opportunity comes in the form of the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. These three offer him glimpses of his life from days gone by, the people in his life at that moment, and what his and their future will look like if he does not make a change. Dickens likely chose the name Ebenezer to be the first name of his character because it means “a stone of help.” The name Ebenezer actually appears in the Bible a few times as a location where Samuel placed a stone as a place of remembrance where God helped Israel deal with their mortal enemies, the Philistines (1 Samuel 7:7-14).
Ebenezer Scrooge himself found help for the bleak path that he had been traveling by looking back at where he had been, considering where his actions were leading others, and ultimately what all that meant for him moving forward. He found it in the spirit of his friend and the apparitions of the past, present, and future. Scrooge changes his heart and his life after those encounters and the course of his life—and those closest to him—changes drastically.
I wonder what would happen if we were given the opportunity to approach this particular stone of help. What if we were transported back to see what we have done or what has been done to us? What would it be like to peel back the curtain of other’s minds and lives and how they might see us? What if we could journey to the future and see the events as they would unfold if we continued on our current path? What would we learn? Would you find events and memories that encourage you to stay the course or would you discover that your focus has been in the wrong things? Would you be thankful for the course of your life or would you make some serious adjustments to your current headings?
It is highly unlikely that a Marley or his friends will visit and help you as they did Ebenezer Scrooge. But, you are not ignorant of what you have done in this life. Careful examination of your attitude and actions might even help you see with clarity what others may think of you. Those two things will help you get a clear picture of the outcome. Your focus reveals your priorities and your priorities reveal your values. All Scrooge knew and loved was money until he was able to see the things that really matter. And he changed. “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.”
My hope is that you examine yourself as we approach this great season. Scrooge came to be known as a man who “knew how to keep Christmas well.” And as Dickens concluded the book he ends it with an admonition: “May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us. Every One!”
Ben