Walking in the Valley A bi-weekly column, featuring one Silicon Valley Christian's (a)musings on life's journey by Barbara Dahlgren

God Bless Us, Every One Column for the weeks of December 1-15, 2008

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Visions of sugarplums may dance in our heads, but Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is everywhere else. Standing the test of time, it has never ceased to be a part of the literary, theatrical, and social scene since its first publication in 1843. The timeless tale is practically immortal. With the help of three ghosts, Ebenezer Scrooge turns from a bitter miser into a generous, kind hearted man at Christmastime. He changes his, “Bah! Humbug!” into a “Merry Christmas!” This is just one of the many ways A Christmas Carol has influenced society. Until its publication everyone said, “Happy Christmas!”

A Christmas Carol sold 6,000 copies in its very first week of printing. Within the year it inspired nine London stage productions. Every year since, countless A Christmas Carol film, theater, opera, radio and television productions have followed. Even animated celebrities like Mickey Mouse, the Muppets, Bugs Bunny, Mr. Magoo, and Barbie, to name a few, have starred in their own versions. Parodies abound. It’s really quite phenomenal.

What inspired Dickens to write A Christmas Carol? It would be wonderful to say he was inspired by the spirit of Christmas, but actually, he needed the money. So much so that he wrote the book in just six weeks, made sure it was ready in time for Christmas, published it himself so he could keep the greater share of the profits, and kept it short to be more readable. It was only 74 pages while most other books of the time were at least 500–1000 pages long. Dickens affectionately called it his “little Christmas book” and read excerpts from it at public readings until his death.

His timing couldn’t have been better. Christmas was making a meager comeback from being a religious holiday banned about 200 years earlier by the Puritans. They hated its connection with the ancient pagan festival, the Saturnalia, which had been celebrated at that time of year and decided Easter should have a greater emphasis. But times were changing. The same year A Christmas Carol was published the first Christmas cards appeared and Prince Albert brought the first Christmas tree to England. Dickens’ was instrumental in those changes since his story portrayed Christmas as a joyous holiday, not just a solemn, austere holy day reflecting the asceticism of that era.

A Christmas Carol deals with two of Dickens’ favorite themes: social injustice and poverty. Ebenezer Scrooge represents those who thought their wealth and status gave them the right to sit in judgment of the poor, rather than help them dig their way out of poverty. Bob Cratchit, his loyal employee, represents the poor working man just trying to eke out a meager living for his family. One of the peripheral but pivotal characters is Cratchit’s young, lame son, Tiny Tim. In spite of Tiny Tim’s dire circumstances, he remains cheerful.

Scrooge returns from his encounter with his ghosts/spirits (Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Future) a changed man. He’s delighted to find out he has time to change his selfish ways. He becomes a good man, friend, and master. He gives money to charity workers, buys gifts for everyone, spends time with his estranged family, helps the Cratchit’s, becomes a second father to Tiny Tim, and “it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge.”

Although variations of the plot have been done, redone, improvised, used, abused, misused, and overdone, it’s still one of my favorite Christmas stories. True, it does not emphasize the birth of Jesus, but it does have certain nuances that make us think. When Tiny Tim and his father go to church on Christmas day Tim makes a brief reference to Christ by saying we should remember the one who made lame beggars walk and blind men see.

All can relate to underlying themes throughout A Christmas Carol. Timeless themes like “do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” “what goes around comes around,” family is important, money does not bring happiness, love lasts all year long, redemption, forgiveness, and being thankful are just a few that still resonate. And as far as I’m concerned, you can’t get a better ending than Tiny Tim saying, “God bless us, every one!” No wonder it’s been popular for so long.

Christmas is coming! The old Scrooge would say, “Bah! Humbug!” The new Scrooge would say, “Merry Christmas.” Tiny Tim and I say, “God bless us, every one!”

Be sure to visit this page often to read the next edition of Walking in the Valley. You can write to the author at bdahlgren@wcgsouthbay.org.