“A Merry Christmas to us all; God bless us, everyone!”
Greeting siblings in Christ, I pray that all had a merry and blessed Christmas! As I write this newsletter, I am sitting here a week before Christmas watching and listening to one of my favorite holiday stories, a Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol.” Charles Dickens first published a A Christmas Carol on December 19, 1843, and it was an immediate hit with the first edition being sold out by Christmas Eve. By 1844, the novella had gone through 13 printings and continues to be a robust seller 180 years later, and it has been adapted in numerous ways, theatrically and on the screen. According to an article from the National Endowment for the Arts written in 2020, there are more than 100 movie adaptations, over 20 tv episode adaptations, 2 ballets and 4 opera versions of the famous story. My favorite versions being the Mickey Mouse version and the Bill Murray’s adaption Scrooged. However, my first memory of being introduced to this story was watching it being performed by a local theater group in Rockford, IL when I was 8. Since then, I have always enjoyed watching all the different versions of this story, and it has become my go to for whenever I want to watch a Christmas movie but do not know what to watch. For many, it has become a part of their Christmas tradition. I think one could argue that a Christmas Carol owes its popularity due to its central message that seems to transcend all of time, to show love and to be generous to all, for our God shows us love and is generous to us. A theme that I believe is summed up in the quote from the character Tiny Tim that I quoted at the beginning of this article, “A Merry Christmas to us all; God bless us, everyone!”
This Christmas we are reminded of the blessing that is our Lord Jesus Christ, who God gave to the world on that first Christmas Day, and who continues to bless us today through the Holy Spirit. When I reflect on this past year, God has indeed been generous and loving toward me. In A Christmas Carol, the grumpy and stingy Scrooge is visited by the spirits of Christmas past, present, and future. The spirits take Scrooge through time and space and direct him to notice the things and people in his life. They implore him to listen to these people, to learn more about them. They then lead Scrooge to reflect more on his own life, and to listen to how he is being called to live. In his reflection, Scrooge comes to see the many blessings that God has bestowed upon him, and he comes to learn how he might be a blessing on to others. Like Scrooge and the spirits, God implores us to notice and to listen to those around us, and God also leads us in self-reflection and guides us deeper into our faith. God reminds us that we are indeed blessed and guides us on how we too may be blessings to this world. Thus, in this gift of faith, God grants us the opportunity to reflect on our everyday lives and calls us into discernment to reflect on our past, present, and future so that we may learn to listen to God and to listen to the needs of the world. And so, this Christmas, we are urged to reflect. We are called to recognize the blessing God has stowed upon us, and we are called to live in gratitude. So, as we go into this new year, how has God blessed you? How will you live in gratitude? “A Merry Christmas to us all; God bless us, everyone!” Amen.
Peace and Blessings, Pastor Ethan Doan
Greeting siblings in Christ, I pray that all had a merry and blessed Christmas! As I write this newsletter, I am sitting here a week before Christmas watching and listening to one of my favorite holiday stories, a Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol.” Charles Dickens first published a A Christmas Carol on December 19, 1843, and it was an immediate hit with the first edition being sold out by Christmas Eve. By 1844, the novella had gone through 13 printings and continues to be a robust seller 180 years later, and it has been adapted in numerous ways, theatrically and on the screen. According to an article from the National Endowment for the Arts written in 2020, there are more than 100 movie adaptations, over 20 tv episode adaptations, 2 ballets and 4 opera versions of the famous story. My favorite versions being the Mickey Mouse version and the Bill Murray’s adaption Scrooged. However, my first memory of being introduced to this story was watching it being performed by a local theater group in Rockford, IL when I was 8. Since then, I have always enjoyed watching all the different versions of this story, and it has become my go to for whenever I want to watch a Christmas movie but do not know what to watch. For many, it has become a part of their Christmas tradition. I think one could argue that a Christmas Carol owes its popularity due to its central message that seems to transcend all of time, to show love and to be generous to all, for our God shows us love and is generous to us. A theme that I believe is summed up in the quote from the character Tiny Tim that I quoted at the beginning of this article, “A Merry Christmas to us all; God bless us, everyone!”
This Christmas we are reminded of the blessing that is our Lord Jesus Christ, who God gave to the world on that first Christmas Day, and who continues to bless us today through the Holy Spirit. When I reflect on this past year, God has indeed been generous and loving toward me. In A Christmas Carol, the grumpy and stingy Scrooge is visited by the spirits of Christmas past, present, and future. The spirits take Scrooge through time and space and direct him to notice the things and people in his life. They implore him to listen to these people, to learn more about them. They then lead Scrooge to reflect more on his own life, and to listen to how he is being called to live. In his reflection, Scrooge comes to see the many blessings that God has bestowed upon him, and he comes to learn how he might be a blessing on to others. Like Scrooge and the spirits, God implores us to notice and to listen to those around us, and God also leads us in self-reflection and guides us deeper into our faith. God reminds us that we are indeed blessed and guides us on how we too may be blessings to this world. Thus, in this gift of faith, God grants us the opportunity to reflect on our everyday lives and calls us into discernment to reflect on our past, present, and future so that we may learn to listen to God and to listen to the needs of the world. And so, this Christmas, we are urged to reflect. We are called to recognize the blessing God has stowed upon us, and we are called to live in gratitude. So, as we go into this new year, how has God blessed you? How will you live in gratitude? “A Merry Christmas to us all; God bless us, everyone!” Amen.
Peace and Blessings, Pastor Ethan Doan
