Some Thoughts on Christmas Eve

Our Path of Hope & Purpose

“Most men live lives of quiet desperation” was the assessment of one writer. And I heard a recent sermon where the pastor talked of “broken lives in a broken world.” There’s also that line from the Christmas song telling of troubles that we’ll “muddle through somehow.”

  Well, there is desperation, broken lives, events beyond our control that upend us, and occasions when all we can do is tie a knot at the end the rope and hang on.

   Yet in most cases, with most of us, and on most days, more benign conditions and situations are the rule; the amenities of family and friends, the rewards of work and leisure, and the ordinariness of routine and repetition.

Whether battered and bruised or living life as it presents itself, or in a manner we prefer, there looms the notion of purpose—living a purposeful life if you will.

   And underlying that effort, if such effort is one we wish to pursue, resides the notion of hope. But not hope in the sense of a passive feeling, but rather a deliberate choice we can make—be it to help counter any despair we are facing or give better meaning to an otherwise ordinary routine.

But what kind of purpose? And to what effect?

Is it a hope and purpose centered around ourselves or does have a wider embrace?

* * *

Three spirits came to visit a London businessman on a long-ago Christmas Eve.

   The first, representing his Christmas Past, reminded him of those choices and decisions he’d make in younger years. The circumstances he’d faced, how he’d dealt with them, and the influence they had in directing his way forward. There was also the reminder of how he’d turned away from a possible family life, choosing the pursuit of wealth and status over the happiness that kind of home might have given him.

   The second one, Christmas Present, put an unflattering spotlight on his self-centeredness, lack of empathy, and sour disposition—a frame of mind he clung to even amid the happiness and good cheer of others around him during the holiday season. It showed as well his harsh judgment towards those less fortunate, coupled with an unwillingness to help those in need despite having the means to do so—those faced with desperate conditions, events that had upended them, and troubles aplenty.

At a more personal level, he was shown how his sour disposition and miserly ways were adversely impacting his employee and that gentleman’s family and was also preventing him (by choice) from enjoying the fellowship of his own kin.   

    Finally, came the Christmas “Yet to Come’ which our businessman, having seen his past and present, said he “feared the most.” And for good reason. What he foresaw was a future—if he continued along his path—of remaining apart from others, continuing a routine without any meaningful purpose, with misplaced priorities, and a life spent in “shallows and in miseries.”

He saw a gravesite where no one came to mourn his death, scavengers picking over those possessions he thought so important, and nothing much of meaning or benefit to show for for his time on this earth.

However, as Scrooge surmised, this future was not a given. He could change, otherwise (as he said) what was the reason for these otherworldly visits.

The opportunity to change our lives in a more positive, purposeful manner is the message of the story—offered in Dickens famous A Christmas Carol. Redemption for Scrooge, but also for anyone reading this tale. And, if the reader is not necessarily in need of redemption, then a reaffirmation and recommitment towards that goal of tending to the needs of those around us.

“Mankind is our business” we are reminded by Dickens.

While that statement might seem to imply a grand commitment and endeavor—one worthy of mending a broken world—if we read between the lines of the story’s ending, Scrooge did not abandon his business or suddenly decide to save the souls of others, nor did he found a charity to deal with the ‘want’ and ‘ignorance’ that afflicts our world.

Rather, he did his part to help—contributing to the charity, joining his family for a holiday meal, and assisting his employee, Bob Cratchit, and Bob’s crippled son Tiny Tim. He changed his attitude and, with that transformation, he changed how he interacted with others and his view of his fellow man.

I would certainly not discourage anyone from taking on a larger purpose of helping others, given the many needs of our broken world. But personal redemption—or simply a reaffirmation and recommitment—can begin with a kind word, a helping hand, a more compassionate outlook towards others, and a choice to reach out beyond our ourselves and our kind.

From those gestures taken with a generous heart… well, who knows?

* * *

   The spirits of the Past, Present, and Future offered Scrooge a second chance; an offer of redemption that he embraced.

   The message of second chances and of redemption—for mankind and for each of us—is inherent in another, older Christmas Story; one involving a birth in a manger in the small town of Bethlehem.

     That latter story informs us that in the pervasive darkness of night, when all might seem lost or unknowable, when fear stirs from within and dangers appear all about, when we see only enemies rather than the ties that bind us, a star is seen glowing in the heavens—a light that beckons us forward, guiding our path of hope and purpose, shining the way to salvation.

* * *

With that said, Merry Christmas to All… and God bless us, Everyone!

    Steve Horton is a mid-Michigan journalist and editor-publisher of the weekly ‘Fowlerville News & Views’.