As I mentioned in my remarks, Dickens' little book is especially poignant and relevant this year. Here's what I wrote and shared: "A Christmas Carol strikes me as beautifully relevant this holiday season, at the end of a dark and painful year, when so many are suffering and we feel, like the reformed Scrooge, called to reach out to them, to the family of mankind, to address and ameliorate 'Ignorance' and 'Want,' memorably personified by Dickens as hungry and desperate children—our children, hiding under the robe of the Ghost of Christmas Present. Moreover, in a year when many of us cannot be with our loved ones yet still feel those urgent bonds of love and connection, the promise of A Christmas Carol—that we can make the world better through active devotion and service to others (even if that means just staying home and staying apart)—inspires and gives us hope. We might not be with our loved ones, but we can show them our love. Dickens, drawing of course, on the ancient Christmas story from the New Testament, shows us that."
When I got home, I called my dad and talked for a bit. I finally said out loud that I wasn't coming home for Christmas and he immediately responded with love and understanding. Such a relief.
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