Christmas Beyond Christmas

“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year
–Ebenezer Scrooge–

In A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens describes Ebenezer Scrooge’s encounters with three ghosts—Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. After the third encounter, a resolved Scrooge, cries out “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”

One of the very last lines that Dickens wrote in the timeless classic was

“Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more;
and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father.
He became as good a friend, as good a master,
and as good a man, as the good old city knew,
or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world.”

            A Christmas Heart

What better way is there to honor Christmas in your heart and keep it all year than to be “as good a (person), as your good old (community, congregation, class, committee, counsel, commission, coalition and/or) city (knows), or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world.”

“I am the good shepherd (John 10.11),” said the Christ Child as an adult and a good shepherd “gathers the lambs in his (or her) arms and carries them close to his (or her) heart” as noted in the Old Testament (Isaiah 40.11). Christ the Good Shepherd also said, “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart (Matthew 12.35).” 

Honoring Christmas  

Thus, Christmas beyond Christmas is producing good things from the treasury of our heart and letting others “see (our) good deeds and glorify (our) Father in heaven (Matthew 5.16)” and remembering that “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life (Ephesians 2.10).  

Remember, “Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more” as should we.

“God bless us, every one!”
–Tiny Tim–