happySettling in for the evening with A Christmas Carol; some dialogue nicely parallels the ongoing struggle with Christmas we find in our world and our hearts (though in some cases it has been repainted in more contemporary or postmodern hues):
Scrooge: Nephew, you keep Christmas in your way. I'll keep it in mine.So whether the "Bah, humbugs!" come from traditional Scrooges or in cloaks of skewed pluralism, I still say "Merry Christmas!" to them all. We all need it, like we need nothing else.
Fred: But you don't keep it!
Scrooge: Then let me leave it alone, then.
Fred: I still say, "Merry Christmas!"
Scrooge: That's all you do say, much good it does you—much good it'll ever do you.
Fred: I daresay there are many things I've got a lot of good from which haven't made me a penny profit—Christmas amongst 'em. You see, Uncle, I've always thought of Christmas as a time for good, not a time for profit. A kind, forgiving time. A time when men and women can think of others. It has never put an extra penny in my pocket, but I believe Christmas has done me good and will do me good! So I still say, "Merry Christmas, Uncle!"
God bless us, every one.
