I have a lot of different movie versions of the Dickens classic A Christmas Carol. I watch them at Christmas time which for me begins on November 1. Every year I promise myself that I will change. I will be more kind and generous and caring of others. Every year in any version of the movie I cry a little when Mr Scrooge wakes up and he’s so excited that he hasn’t missed Christmas and it isn’t too late for him.
This past week I was watching Mickey’s Christmas Carol. You know the one. Scrooge McDuck is so terrible to his employee Mickey Mouse.
This time I had a new thought about the story.
I’ve watched each time before as Mr Scrooge is taken to see his past life, the people in his current life and what might become those people including himself if he continued on his path.
This time when he woke up on Christmas morning a thought came to me. I am almost sure it came as a lesson from God.
We are expected to take care of each other, to love one another, to serve others. We can most easily care for those we love and know.
In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints most of us have been assigned a few women if we belong to the Relief Society and a few families if we are members of the Elder’s quorum. the assignment is that we will look after those on our list. We will become friends with them and love them. The only way to accomplish that is to be in contact with them. To talk to them and get to know them. To find things which we have in common and teach and learn from each other.
Mr Scrooge doesn’t change his heart toward Bob Cratchit until he sees the circumstances of his life, understands his personal hardships and sees how his actions can either contribute to the death of Tiny Tim or literally save his life.
Mr Scrooge doesn’t accept his nephew’s yearly invitations to spend Christmas with his family until he sees and understands that Fred genuinely cares for him.
This is the essence of Ministering to each other. Friendship, then love and then finally trust can only come from working to have understanding of each other. We need to be patient as we work on these relationships and know that some will be more difficult to cultivate than others but there are so many blessings and astounding joy that can come from this important work.
I have big plans to improve again this coming year but I am being more specific with my goals. Rather than saying I will be more kind, I am saying that I will learn new things about those people on my list so that I can have a deeper love for them and understand how I can serve them in better ways. This way my goal remains the same but it can be more measurable and I will be able to look back to know if I have actually achieved my goal of being more kind, and generous and caring.
Do you love the story as much as I do. Also, if you haven’t watched the movie or read the book recently let me know and I’ll hook you up.
Always Choose Charity 