I do love Christmas, and I have been blessed to enjoy many of them. In A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens has Scrooge’s nephew say these words that sum up what many people feel about Christmas, “But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open up their shut up hearts freely, and to think of the people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures, bound on other journeys.” Even though there were at times difficulties in our family life, Christmas time was usually when those difficulties were put on hold and a semblance of peace reigned.
Old movies about Christmas caught my attention and the various adaptations of A Christmas Carol were my favorites. I even remember seeing a very old version that was grainy and hard to watch because the quality was so bad. I believe it was filmed in the 1930s or even earlier. Then there is the version from 1951 where Alistair Sim plays Ebenezer. That version is a lot of people’s favorites and I enjoy it. It also seems to be the adaptation that most closely adheres to Dickens’s novella.
I do have my favorite though. Even as a ten-year-old watching on television, I was intrigued by “Scrooge”, the musical adaptation where Albert Finney plays Ebenezer. Some of the scenes in that movie, and the stirring music, sad and joyful, touched my heart. My affection for this version has only grown as time passed.
I also found later in life that I love Charles Dickens’s writing. I was not a very good student in high school and missed out on a lot of quality literature. Later in life, I was inspired to utilize my commute time to listen to all sorts of audio programs including motivation, educational, and sermons. One day I wandered into the library searching for compact disc recordings to play in my car. I wanted a break from learning and wanted to expose myself to good fiction. I stumbled upon Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I was immediately hooked on the story, and I have to give credit to the narrator who made the characters come alive. I love a good audio book with a quality narrator. I still don’t know how they can change their voices so easily.
In Great Expectations, the character of Joe Gargery leapt out of the pages, or in my case, the speakers and was someone to look up to. Joe was a simpleton, but physically strong, kind, loyal and forgiving, ‘salt of the earth’ as the saying goes. People who have read Great Expectations may catch that, in my story, I steal a quote from Joe. Here’s a hint, it has to do with Marley’s gravestone. Pip is the main character though and his story is intriguing. Since I am a Physical Therapist, I related to Pip helping Miss Havisham walk around her table as they repeated the rhyme that Joe used when hammering away in his blacksmith shop. One of my favorite quotes from the Great Expectations is,“Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts.”
Next up, I listened to David Copperfield, perhaps my favorite of all Dicken’s novels. His characters come alive. From David’s mom, to Peggotty, (his aunt), to the tragic Emily, somehow, I feel I know them and have shared all their trials, joys and sadness. But the two characters that stand out above all others in this novel are Ham and his uncle, Mr. Peggotty. Ham is another character, like Joe Gargery in his own way, who was simple yet so strong, so faithful, so forgiving, so much in his character to esteem and emulate. Yet it is his uncle, Mr. Peggotty whom I most admire. When his niece, whom he adopted and raised as his own, runs off with Steerforth, disgraces herself and the family, he is undeterred. He goes after her, walking across Europe on foot and alone, for months on end. When he parts from his family to seek her, he tells them, “I’m a going to seek her, fur and wide. If any hurt should come to me, remember that the last words I left for her was, My unchanged love is with my darling child, and I forgive her!” I cannot think of a better summary of the Gospel spoken by a fictional character. We have all sinned and gone astray, but our Lord disdained the hurt that came to Him, spread his arms on the Cross and told us that His unchanged love is with us, His children, and we are forgiven!
That brings me back to A Christmas Carol. I have to some extent lived Ebenezer’s story. In the movie Scrooge, the scene that tears at my heart every time is when Ebenezer sees himself in the past letting Belle leave him. He grieves then but the grief is even more profound when he is with the Ghost of Christmas Present and he comes to grips with what he lost and realizes he can never get her back. I almost made a similar, tragic mistake with my wife. Thankfully, she stayed with me, thus the book is dedicated to her.
A Christmas Carol is all about redemption. Ebenezer is shown his past, present and possible future and he does not like what he sees. He repents and turns away from his ways and turns towards the good. I have made a similar turn in my life. I have experienced the joy that bursts out on to the streets as Ebenezer sings of his new beginning in the movie Scrooge. About three or four years ago, I started to ponder what Ebenezer’s life was like starting the day after Christmas. I sketched a brief outline and would come home from my job and work on the story a little at a time and it grew on me. I really enjoyed working on it. The book you are holding, or maybe listening to, is a result.
In A New Year’s Carol, Ebenezer finds joy, family and friends, but not everything is easy. He struggles. His past comes back to haunt him. He has to deal with regrets. Not everyone accepts the change in him. He has to learn to forgive. He realizes that it is not easy to forgive. In the end though, he comes to appreciate every new year, there are so few granted to each of us. I have come to appreciate every new day, every new year and that His mercies are ever new. I wrote this story because that appreciation for redemption and gratitude for life came from within me and it was natural to write about it. I am blessed in that I get to share that with you. I hope you enjoy it.
Sincerely,
Dean Jeris