Be Like Scrooge

This time of year Christmas movies repeatidly surface on your TV search of what's trending. It's interesting that most of the popular Christmas stories invoke a theme of a powerful change in the main character. Think of tales such as "The Grinch," or George Bailey in "It's A Wonderful Life," or Hero Boy in "Polar Express" and even the character Walter in the movie "Elf." A classic premise in most of these Christmas movies is that someone is lost or fallen into despair only to be awoken by the true Christmas "spirit." As predictable as these stories tend to be, their appeal to the audience reveals the force of how the meaning of Christmas is saurated in the concept of conversion. But, within this theme of conversion it is helpful to look into what lead to the characters dramatic transformation.

In Charles Dickens’ story, A Christmas Carol, we witness the conversion of the character Ebenezer Scrooge. Despite having considerable wealth, Ebenezer underpays his clerk and hounds his debtors relentlessly while experiencing a cheap and joyless life. Most of all, Ebenezer detests Christmas, which he associates with reckless spending and annoying cheer. His disdain for Christmas, disregard for others, and obsession with wealth isolate him from humanity, which, in turn, places him in a bitter mental state.

Despite his rather miserable disposition, Ebenezer experiences a dramatic transformation when he is visited by three ghosts. The Ghost of Christmas Past forces him to confront the joys and sorrows of his earlier life, revealing how his choices have alienated him from happiness. The Ghost of Christmas Present exposes the struggles of those around him, particularly the Cratchit family, whose warmth contrasts sharply with Scrooge’s isolation. Finally, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows Scrooge where his greed and selfishness will lead him – a corrupt version of the person he was created to be. Presented with this bleak picture, Scrooge begs the spirit for another chance, promising to change his ways. This move of repentance by Scrooge illuminates that deep down his goodness came out only by seeing the full picture of his past, present, and future. This revelation forced him to confront the path of destruction caused by his actions. While unpleasant to experience, seeing a mirror into one’s sin reveals much about one’s inner character. Bishop Fulton Sheen offers us a penetrating quote: “The good repent on knowing their sin; the evil become angry when discovered.”

Given this, Ebenezer Scrooge is not the evil man we typically envision. Because when he wakes up on Christmas Day, he is a completely transformed man precisely because he chooses to repent. Dickens writes that immediately upon waking up Scrooge went to church overjoyed. Here, Scrooge commits to being more generous and compassionate and desires to follow Christ. Therefore, Ebenezer Scrooge becomes the embodiment of the Christmas spirit. Rather than view Christmas as a season of sentimentality and charm, Christmas invokes a radical conversion of one’s soul when Christ enters the human scene.

Scrooge’s transformation from being consumed by pride and greed to becoming drenched in humility and generosity was kick-started when he saw the full view of his dark sinful state. After this, generosity and charity flowed from him. 

Therefore, seeing one's inner selfishness can actually be a net positive becasuse it can trigger a transition to emptying one self for the other. A small example is by looking to see if one is addicted to the material "treasures" he has stored up. In this, when we hoard material things for ourselves, we become like the wretched character of Scrooge at the beginning of the story. Being so consumed with his self-gain, he treated others with disdain and thus had a “bah-humbug” view of the world. To experience a Scrooge-like transformation and to reinvigorate our spiritual senses this Advent let us focus outward toward others and not inward towards the self. In this past Sunday Gospel reading (Luke 3: 10-18), John the Baptist gives us a challenging plea – to take our goods and to bestow them to others. This spiritual formula is on full display in the Christmas story as God was given to us. Here, we stand as wretched sinners in need receiving the immense gift of Jesus into our world. From receivers, we then transition into givers. And when we do, our souls will be altered to experience the fullness of the faith – much like Scrooge felt when he awoke on Christmas morning.