Bah! Humbug...

   Each year for the past four years we have made it a point to watch 'Scrooge'; the 1970's version with Albert Finney. Charles Dickens' story put to theatre and film is a classic for any generation.  There's something about choosing life that resonates with almost everyone. There's something about that old miserly character Ebenezer Scrooge that just draws us back in time to a place in our own journey that few of us want to even admit.  Early in the story, Scrooge's use of the word humbug becomes a self expression of his own character.
   One of the story's most revealing humbug scenes that calls attention to our reticent tendencies is the engagement breakup scene. Scrooge goes back in time to a critical place where he forfeited the joy and intimacy of a marriage relationship from the idol of 'gain'. Most telling are the cries from Scrooge himself to the younger version of himself, begging "say something you fool, say something..." Not everyone suffers from this humbug of greed but there are other humbugs other than greed. You know yours, I know my own. When humbug is chosen, it's that thing that will draw us away from the people we love and cherish. The results of which are crushing on the spirit of Christmas in each of us, regardless of the month on the wall calendar.
   It's that active withholding of affection, love, praise, spiritual leadership, intimacy... that just causes us to descend into our personal Scrooge-like character. Certainly, it manifests itself in varied ways but mostly in our relationships... The person that humbug ultimately robs is ourself. There is no gain - only humbug!
   That powerful scene ends with Scrooge saying "spirit remove me from this place, I can bear it no more!'  It's that sentiment and insight that begins the process of our own repentance and healing. We each have a threshold of pain that is too much to bear.  It is that conscious choice that cries out to the Spirit of the Living God... 'dear God, remove me from this place!'  
   I want to encourage you to give yourself and your family and friends the greatest Christmas present ever - a heart full of love, appreciation, praise, affirmation, prayer, love, compassion, joy, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control... Rid yourself of the chains of humbug, press into life like never before and choose to live again...

In Christ!