KEEPING CHRISTMAS

 

KEEPING CHRISTMAS - One of my all-time favorite Christmas stories is Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  Dickens was an advocate for social justice, as evidenced in A Christmas Carol and other writings.  To him, "keeping Christmas" meant being mindful of and reaching out to the poor and less fortunate.  And it meant going about the real business of life.  As Marley, Scrooge's former partner in business, learned too late, mankind is our business.  The common welfare is our business.  Charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence - all of these are our business!  And so, in the end of the story, Ebenezer Scrooge proclaims that these he will from here on out strive to do always and, thus, honor Christmas in his heart and strive to keep it all the year.