SCROOGE - CHARLES DICKENS (1951)

ALASTAIR SIM

''A Christmas Carol''

 , T

''CAROL DWECK CREDITs EBENEZER SCROOGE''

---I’m sure that we are all familiar with this story by Charles Dickens. We have the penny pinching Ebenezer Scrooge having very little spirit or love in his heart. He thinks that debtors prison is a good enough place for those who can’t payback loans. He sees death as a way to deal with the surplus population. He is really concerned having less people on the surface (of the Earth) to deal with.

---The night is Christmas Eve. He is visited by the ghost of Jacob Marley, who was once his business partner. Marley warns Scrooge of his miserly ways and how he will regret them in the afterlife. He, also, speaks of three ghosts who will visit Scrooge this night.

---The three ghosts visit named Christmas past, present and future. They take him through periods of his life. It is revealed how Scrooge's miserliness took shape and strengthened overtime. BUT…lo and behold he saw the pain and suffering that he caused over the years, also. This was increasingly painful for him to endure watching.

---He has a change of heart. Scrooge learns a very valuable life-lesson through all this. He asks his nephews wife,''can you forgive a doddering old fool who refused to see?'' He realizes that mending his ways and being more other-oriented Is far more the way to be. He changes from his penny pinching demeanor to loving others and sharing his wealth. He has now opened his heart and you can see the joy and happiness abound. Though this story is quite well known, it is worth another reading or viewing by those so inclined. Be Well.

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A CHRISTMAS CAROL

The THEME

---I’d like to share a theme that I see very often. It is the idea of going from selfish to selfless. I think that you have encountered this many times before…though it may NOT have been recognized.

---The famous book - Silas Marner has it. Old Silas was a miser who’d bury his money until LOVE came into his life in the form of a baby to care for left at his door. A Christmas Carol has the old miser Scrooge penny-pinching his way through life until he sees the error in that lifestyle.

---A baby going through the ‘’terrible two’s’’ encounters much the same. Actually, all rites-of-passage are for this - developing and transitioning into the next phase. If he goes through it properly and develops normally his life will be one of caring and sharing. If NOT a smooth journey than one may get ‘’stuck’’ and find it downright difficult to share. He doesn’t transition from the ‘’me’’ vs. ‘’you’’ to an ‘’us’’ space, easily. He gets stuck in getting his me space satisfied. He is still very self-oriented.

---The downside of this is that he never feels satisfied and never knows when he has had enough. The ‘’ideal’’ would be… ‘’me’’ vs. ‘’you’’ smoothly becoming an ‘’us’’ space. If this doesn’t happen, he is always trying to justify himself as a me. Unfortunately, one is a prime candidate for addiction - trying in vain to fill this emptiness by whatever seems to work. It is usually a ‘’feel good’’ distractor making false promises ’’to fill the void, but never does.’’ Ideally, folks go from me, me, me to us, us, us. When LOVE + KINDNESS of some sort comes into it, the transition occurs. When this doesn’t happen is when we continue the heartaches (the same-old, same-old.) .

CLICK THOUGHTOONs!

''SCROOGE'' has found his GREATNESS within. If we give up our self centered ways and become selfless, ''putting others first,'' we will find ourselves having an experience of our own greatness. Though this was written by Charles Dickens many years ago, we find the truth stands the test of time. ''FINDING JOE'' (below) plays into this THEME very much. Scrooge has discovered the Golden Buddha within himself (love and generosity.) We ALL have the Golden Buddha within ourselves. Watch the beginning of ''FINDING JOE.'' You should see the similarities that we ALL share within. It doesn't matter who you are or what you have done, it exists inside of us all. The difference is the amount of ''crap'' we have in the way that interferes with our seeing it. If you spend or spent your life helping others, then it shouldn't take long at all. If we have spent our time treating others badly, the time to discover the wonders contained within, The Golden Buddha, will take longer. Be kind to one another, it makes a big difference.

ENJOY!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS