The True Christmas Message Behind “A Christmas Carol”

The Real Quest of Saving Scrooge

I would like to write about one of my favorite stories: Charles Dickens’ A CHRISTMAS CAROL. This of course includes the most remarkable character in the story, Scrooge.

The jocund travellers came on; and as they came, Scrooge knew and named them every one. Why was he rejoiced beyond all bounds to see them! Why did his cold eye glisten, and his heart leap up as they went past! Why was he filled with gladness when he heard them give each other Merry Christmas, as they parted at cross-roads and bye-ways, for their several homes! What was merry Christmas to Scrooge? Out upon merry Christmas! What good had it ever done to him?

Scrooge was the fellow who didn’t believe in Christmas, who considers it a “humbug!” and a waste of his hard-earned money. There wasn’t much to be liked about him, being the old grouch and all. And because of that, he was visited by the ghosts of Christmas for him to change his ways.

He did change his ways in the end, and became this generous and happy person everybody really liked. Happy ending and quite predictable, wasn’t it?

But what struck me most was this. The ghosts of Christmas did not visit him only for the sake of making him a pleasant guy, or for the sake of the other people who were annoyed with him. The ghosts of Christmas visited him because they saw through him, they saw the person behind the mask, behind the pretense of being strong.

The ghosts of Christmas saw a lonely person, one who was burdened by his past and cannot enjoy his present Christmas, nor his future ones.

There are many times when we tend to judge an unpleasant person. We scoff at him and treat him as an outcast and think of ourselves as righteous and better people. We think that people would prefer to be evil rather than be good if they can help it.

But the truth is that people often can’t help themselves. People put up all these defense mechanisms so that others won’t see how afraid and sad they really are. They cannot reach out to other people. And people don’t reach out to them.

Is this the meaning of Christmas? Christmas is that sacred and most blessed hour when God came down to live among men, to become human and frail as we are, so that He can reach out to us and save us. God knew all along that no matter how hard we try, we can’t help ourselves, we can’t save our souls.

Saving souls is much like saving Scrooge. It is putting Christmas back into our hearts. It is being a child again, believing in our dreams again and knowing that with God’s help, our dreams could still come true.

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