Judging from my recent writings, you might wonder if I am much in the Christmas spirit this year. This morning, I find myself away from my wife’s frenetic preparations for our meal, away from family arriving at the house to open presents in the living room, and away from my grandchildren—Walker, anyway—tearing apart wrapping paper that my wife insists on using every year and having more fun with the paper and boxes than with the carefully selected gifts at the center of the wrapping.
Even though I am absent in person this year, celebrating a whole different list of gifts and blessings with my mother, the Spirit of Christmas lives on, and it is found no more evident than in Charles Dickens's “A Christmas Carol.” I watch virtually every filmed version of this story every year. I am repeatedly taken by the scenes of The Ghost of Christmas Past showing Ebenezer where his journey started as a clerk in the warehouse of Old Fezziwig.
Over the years, I have tried to temper my heart to be more like Fezziwig. I work to be more focused on truly important things—the love of my wife and family, the kindness I can show to my students and the teachers who filled the schools I led, and the message of the Savior who came at just the right time to save humanity. I hope you will enjoy this reading of that scene from Dickens and that the spirit embodied in it fills your home and your heart today and every day.
Merry Christmas!
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