{"id":2188,"date":"2022-12-05T07:38:44","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T12:38:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=2188"},"modified":"2022-12-05T07:38:44","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T12:38:44","slug":"scrooge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2022\/12\/05\/scrooge\/","title":{"rendered":"Scrooge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>.
\u00a0
Throughout the season of Advent \u2013 which this year encompasses the four weeks leading up to December 25 \u2013 we\u2019re looking at classic Christmas movies and how they might connect us to the miracle of God choosing to become a human being.<\/em>
\u00a0
Aside from the Gospel accounts of the birth of Jesus, what\u2019s the most celebrated Christmas story of all time?

It\u2019s a slam-dunk. \u00a0Charles Dickens\u2019 novella A Christmas Carol has been capturing the hearts of readers and audiences almost non-stop since its publication in 1843. \u00a0\u00a0

Dickens tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a self-centered penny-pincher who spreads misery wherever he goes. \u00a0On Christmas Eve his life is upended by four supernatural visitors \u2013 Jacob Marley, a deceased business associate, and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet to Come. Together they open Scrooge\u2019s eyes to the wretchedness of his current life. \u00a0Those who know him will no doubt feel happy when he dies. \u00a0Is it too late for this lost soul to become a different person?

So far been there have been at least 71 different screen adaptations of A Christmas Carol.

Take your choice. \u00a0You can go for heavy drama (George C. Scott\u2019s acclaimed performance as Scrooge in 1984), snarky comedy (Bill Murray\u2019s turn in Scrooged), or the Disney touch (Mickey\u2019s Christmas Carol). \u00a0A veritable Who\u2019s Who of actors have portrayed the selfish miser, including Patrick Stewart, Kelsey Grammer, Albert Finney, Christopher Plummer, Jack Palance, Henry \u201cthe Fonz\u201d Winkler, and Jim Carrey. \u00a0

In more recent years, the \u201cbad guy\u201d in Dickens\u2019 story has increasingly been a self-centered woman. \u00a0That includes Vanessa Williams as a cold-hearted diva, Tori Spelling as an egomaniacal talk show host, and Susan Lucci \u2013 the baddest of all the soap opera bad girls \u2013 as the disreputable manager of a department store. \u00a0

There\u2019s also The Muppet Christmas Carol, A Dennis the Menace Christmas, Bah Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas, and movie-length versions featuring Winnie the Pooh, the Smurfs, and the Flintstones. \u00a0There\u2019s also An All-Dogs Christmas Carol, which sounds really cute but turned out to be a dog. \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0

After Matthew McConaughey starred in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, the folks at the Hallmark Channel defiantly countered with Boyfriends of Christmas Past. \u00a0There\u2019s even a Dickens spoof where one of the ghosts decides to go rogue and not confront Scrooge at all.

So which version deserves to be the definitive representation of Dickens\u2019 masterpiece? \u00a0

For more than 70 years, critics and audiences have raved about Scrooge, the 1951 British film starring Alistair Sim. \u00a0It was renamed A Christmas Carol for distribution in America. \u00a0Sim was considered an unusual choice. \u00a0He was famous as a comedy actor in England. \u00a0Many wondered if he could bring sufficient swagger and menace to the role of Ebeneezer. \u00a0

He succeeded brilliantly. \u00a0Every succeeding portrayal of Scrooge has been weighed against Sim\u2019s bravura performance. \u00a0

We feel drawn into Scrooge\u2019s tortured psyche when he says to the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come, \u201cI fear you more than any other specter I\u2019ve seen. \u00a0But even in my fear I must tell you, I am too old! \u00a0I cannot change!\u201d

Those are words we hear all too often from \u201cpeople of a certain age.\u201d \u00a0You may even have spoken those words yourself.

As older men and women try to keep pace in our fast-moving culture, those who are anxious about new technologies and rapid change sometimes shut down. \u00a0They embrace the truism, \u201cYou can\u2019t teach an old dog new tricks.\u201d \u00a0So they stop growing. \u00a0They pray that their church will still sing some of their favorite Christmas carols this month, and hope a grandchild will be nearby when they forget how to log onto their computer. \u00a0

According to a 2017 AARP survey, more than 50% of adults over the age of 40 admitted that most weeks they don\u2019t learn anything new. \u00a0That means they don\u2019t open a reference book, try to master a new skill, or even do a simple Google search.\u00a0

But there is no natural law that says learning must come to an end during the second half of life. \u00a0Research confirms that our brains have the capacity to continually develop new neural pathways all the way to life\u2019s finish line \u2013 if we are willing to challenge ourselves to keep growing. \u00a0That means that it\u2019s not too late to start a new hobby, learn to play a new musical instrument, or master a new language. \u00a0

Dr. Rachel Wu, professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, points out that \u201cadults can borrow lessons from childhood, when cognitive growth and learning are a given. \u00a0We say babies and children absorb new information like sponges. \u00a0This sponginess is partially because\u2026they commit to learning, and they get encouragement from teachers and caregivers.\u201d

The bottom line is that if older adults place themselves in the presence of fellow learners and\/or a committed coach, they can learn just like children.

Dr. Wu discovered in her research that \u201cmany older adults thought they could barely walk a mental mile, but they completed a triathlon.\u201d

So it\u2019s time to stop believing the lie that you\u2019re too old to change. \u00a0It\u2019s not too late to heal. \u00a0It\u2019s not too late to forgive. \u00a0No matter what your age or circumstances, it\u2019s not too late to abandon yourself to God \u2013 to find out through personal experience that God can actually be trusted with all your problems and cares. \u00a0

That\u2019s the enduring power of Dickens\u2019 timeless story. \u00a0Scrooge awakens on Christmas morning overwhelmed by regret. \u00a0He now knows his life has been an utter waste. \u00a0But suddenly he is buoyed by hope. \u00a0Perhaps it\u2019s not too late after all to have a new kind of life. \u00a0

Watch how Alistair Sim navigates that roller coaster of emotions in these final minutes of Scrooge:\u00a0 \u00a0A Christmas Carol Scrooge’s Transformation – YouTube<\/a>. Of particular delight are the reactions of Kathleen Harrison, who plays the charwoman Mrs. Dilber. \u00a0Up to this point she has experienced Scrooge only as a monster. \u00a0His over-the-top joy at the chance to start over sends her screaming down the stairs.\u00a0

Film critic Jeremy Arnold points out that when Tiny Tim\u2019s father asks, \u201cWhat would make Mr. Scrooge take leave of his senses suddenly?\u201d Tiny Tim has the answer: \u201cChristmas!\u201d\u00a0

It\u2019s the perfect line. \u00a0

Better still, it\u2019s something that can actually happen to you and me, as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here.\u00a0Throughout the season of Advent \u2013 which this year encompasses the four weeks leading up to December 25 \u2013 we\u2019re looking at classic Christmas movies and how they might connect us to the miracle of God choosing to become a human being.\u00a0Aside from the Gospel accounts of the birth of Jesus, what\u2019s… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2189,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2188"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2190,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2188\/revisions\/2190"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}