Just watched Alistair Sim’s “A Christmas Carol” (a.k.a. “Scrooge”) from 1951 (for about the 50th time), and it puzzles me sometimes why this isn’t the most-loved “Christmas Carol” films of all times. Not only did Sim pull off the most foul, most wretched, most cantankerous Ebeneezer Scrooge of the lot, he also does the most memorable, delightful, and tear-jerking turnaround of all time. It is indeed probably the most worthy of Charles Dickens’ classic, and possibly the one he would have adored the most.
I’m reminded of something too, from the film, and it comes courtesy of actor Francis de Wolff as the Spirit of Christmas Present:
“We Spirits of Christmas do not live only one day of our year. We live the whole three-hundred and sixty-five. So is it true of the Child born in Bethlehem. He does not live in men’s hearts one day of the year, but in all days of the year.”
Later on, the spirit tells Scrooge to come with him, so that he can seek the spirit of Jesus Christ in the hearts of those with good will, since he has such a hard time finding it in his own.
There is a truly remarkable, beautiful lesson here. If happiness and contentment are not in our hearts, we can still see it in the hearts of others around us. Whether we witness someone fixing a flat tired for an elderly woman, or we watch two football players from opposite teams giving each other a hug on the field, or allowing someone to go ahead of them in a grocery line…the spirit and love and respect of the man whose birthday we celebrate this time of year is inside. What an incredible world we would have today, if we really did as the Spirit of Christmas Present suggests, and truly live the entire year in this same way.
We really can do it, you know? It just starts with you starting right now, and perhaps going to the store, or a library, or a friend’s house, or even take a walk around the neighborhood, and observe how the true spirit of Christmas is within the people you see. It might take a few tries, but you can see them. They’re smiling, laughing, hugging or kissing, or chatting amiably to others. Christmas for them isn’t just something to celebrate once a year. We might be celebrating the birth of Christ, but…shouldn’t we be celebrating that Christ existed in the first place too? ^^
So think about this message. I’m not even Christian or religious, and even I agree that Christmas should be celebrated every day. That warmth, the giving nature, the feeling of camaraderie, should be inside us every day.
A very blessed Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all – and keep an eye out for a very special “The Depths” Christmas page coming soon! <3
P.M. Amaras, Kino Jaggernov, and Paul Driggere