FEATURE — Members of the Southern Utah community sometimes share their stories with St. George News. That includes holiday stories. Here are a few.
A Christmas Carol
At this time of year, there are a lot of Christmas movies on TV. I have always liked “A Christmas Carol,” written by Charles Dickens in 1843.
Dickens tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge, we all remember him as a greedy, cold-hearted person who hates Christmas. In fact, I may have met him a few times in my life, but that’s another story to tell.
So I decided I would revisit the part of the book when Jacob Marley came and visited Scrooge. In one part, Marley states, “I wear the chain I
forged in life … I made it link by link and yard by yard.” Scrooge says to Marley, “But you were always a good man of business.” “Business!”
cried the Ghost, …” Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance and benevolence were all my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”
He realized that he was just like Scrooge, who wore the chains of bondage because of misplaced values, and that his business should have been one of charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence. Through his symbolism, Dickens tried to make the point that Mankind should be our business.
There are many things to take from that, and I thought that life is like a book. In fact, there are many books about someone’s life. So
my question is, “What’s in our book?” Perhaps there are public records of our lawful existence.
Our official transactions require identification, passport, and social security numbers. Ultimately, whether we officially exist or not as citizens of a country depends on whether our names are written in its books. There are, however, other more important things to include in our personal book. Shouldn’t there be something that indicates Mankind was our business? Shouldn’t there be things about charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence? So what does the dictionary say about these words?
Charity – generosity, and helpfulness, especially toward the needy or suffering – pure love of God.
Mercy –lenient or compassionate treatment.
Forbearance – a refraining from the enforcement of something (as a debt, right, or obligation) that is due.
Benevolence – a disposition to do good, an act of kindness, a generous gift.
These are all things we can include in our book. We are the authors of our own books. Each chapter is a stage in our life. We have an excellent opportunity to make “Mankind our business.” Each day we can add to the list of those things which are important, like charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence.
Santa’s Reindeer
There I was, just minding my own business in the mall recently, when I felt a tug on my pants. I looked down, and there was this short little elf dressed in green with candy cane-striped socks and jester slippers.
He indicated that the guy in the red suit wanted to talk to me. As I approached this large man dressed in red, I was expecting a smile on his face because I knew I had been nice this year, but the look on his face told me otherwise. I was a little embarrassed to be sitting on his lap.
OK, I was really embarrassed to be sitting on his lap. All the little kids were pointing at me and laughing. What was I to do? He was the one who told me to sit down on his lap. He began recanting all the times that I had not left cookies and milk for him when he came to deliver presents. If he knew what was best for him, he could really avoid cookies and milk.
I tried to explain that I was not responsible for that and he needed to take that up with my wife, but he would not hear of it. He then began to go on a rant about me not doing the dishes. I thought that’s why they make dishwashers,.
He then continued about not making the bed in the morning. Again, I’m thinking we’re just going to mess it up again tonight. He kept going on and on about washing the clothes and cleaning the house. I soon suspected that he must have been talking to my wife.
I looked all over, trying to figure out where she was hiding. I just knew she was getting a big kick out of this. He explained in no uncertain terms what he expected of me in the coming year. I tried to explain to him that I had no time for such silly things because I had a tee time set up every day for the coming year. He explained that no gifts were coming my way unless I changed.
He started to reach into his bag, and I could see the lump of coal coming out. Immediately, the past year flashed before my eyes. I could see that the time had come to fess up and take responsibility. With tears in my eyes, I promised to do better and asked that he put that coal back into his bag.
As soon as I left, I rushed over to Kay Jewelers and picked out a diamond necklace for my wife. I also dropped by Bed Bath and Beyond and picked up a cute little apron I could wear while doing the housework next year.
Written by JIM TERRY, St. George
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