Did you head forth with your torch and spread some joy or hope in your travels? What were your encounters like? Who did you interact with? If you chose people close to you like family, friends or relatives, did you feel like you were able to express kindness, hope or support that you have been suppressing for a while because it just wasn’t something “you” did? Were you able to use this exercise to mend some fences or rebuild bridges that may have fallen in disrepair? If you interacted with strangers or coworkers, how did this exchange go? How personal did you make it? If you picked someone besides a family member, was this because it is easier and less threatening to be vulnerable with a stranger? If this is the case, have you thought about why this is? What if you find a way to slowly you’re your way into being more comfortable with being vulnerable with those close to you? Could change your life.
When you look back on these interactions, did you feel sincere in your actions? Did you feel like you were the one who actually gained by bringing others hope or kindness? I have to provide a bit of caution that this needs to be sincere and come from your heart. Nothing is worse than a phony who tries to come across as caring, considerate, kind. The scent of the rose lingers on the hand that tossed it. Be kind to others and it will do your spirit good. I have made it a habit to be kind to public facing workers. People like cashiers, store clerks, waiters, librarians, teachers… All these workers that have to interact with the public. They have to regularly deal with rudeness, arrogance, entitlement, ignorance… and outright stupidity. The way I see people treating others is just sad. In today’s reality TV world where we celebrate this sort of poor behavior, and everyone feels like they are entitled to respect, we just feed this sort of abuse. There was a time where the concern over being viewed as someone who is rude or offensive would shame people into behaving properly. Today, anything goes. For me, the need for hope and kindness from the Spirit’s torch is needed more than ever. Can you please keep this going and help me spread some positivity and humanity?
This Week’s Talk
As Scrooge and the Spirit of Christmas Present continue on with their travels, their next stop is at the Cratchits. We are reminded that they are a family of limited means. They live in a lesser desirable area, in a smaller dwelling, and are portrayed wearing slightly worn clothes. We get to see the Cratchits busy preparing for the holiday. The various movies and the book treat this section in slightly different ways. They all tend to show a hectic scene, Mrs. Cratchit cooking, the kids running around, one of the Cratchits trying to sneak a potato out of the dinner pot. Whose house isn’t chaotic around the holidays? Things don’t seem to have changed much in the past 180 plus years. There is something different about holiday chaos. Maybe because we are all in the same state of mind so when we see it, it is different than other times of year, or maybe there is some real energy in the air that tells our psyche that this is a positive thing?
I will end this week at the point that Mrs. Cratchit is cooking and Martha having just arrived home, goes about hiding so that the family can tell Mr. Cratchit that she wasn’t able to come home for the holiday dinner. The whole family is in on pulling this off. As Bob and Tiny Tim enter the house, they are disappointed to hear that Martha wont’ be coming. Martha, can’t bear to hear the disappointment in Tiny Tim’s voice and in her father’s voice so she jumps out from behind the door and the commotion begins anew.
This Week’s Assignment
Why this scene? So far, we have found something profound in almost every paragraph. Dickens isn’t a writer to just put words upon a page. I imagine that he toiled long on every paragraph, on every vignette. He wanted to get a point across. For me, it seems like he is making it painfully clear to Scrooge that he created this “hardship”. Scrooge is shown surprised as they arrive upon the scene. He remarks about the conditions in which they live. He is caught off guard by the Spirit sprinkling his torch upon such an unremarkable dwelling, and Scrooge comments about the “meagerness” of the meal offering. The Spirit remarks sharply at each of Scrooge comments and makes him acutely aware that as a result of Scrooge’s cheapness, Bob Cratchit earns a small salary and is forced to live a limited life. Actions have repercussions. Maybe Dickens was also trying to make us sensitive to the joy, the gift of family, of the need for a sense of unity, and the magic of the family bond. All these joys, know no boundaries. Inside even the most limited households, and perhaps more so, there is joy, family and love. I will have to summons Dickens as one of my spirits and ask him!
Your assignment this week, think about the impact your actions and decisions may have on others. Scrooge’s wages as an employer impact the life that the Cratchits live. How are your actions, inactions, and behaviors effecting others? Are you an employer? Are you a boss? How are you treating coworkers, peers, your neighbors, the barista… No man is an island unto himself.
See you next week.