I logged off much of the holidays, so I'm just catching up now. But I felt compelled to comment because:
1. A Muppet Christmas Carol is far and away the best adaptation of A Christmas Carol, and the fact that Disney+ cuts Belle's "When Love Is Gone" is a tragedy. (I make my family pause it so that we can watch it on YouTube.)
2. The rejoicing of when Scrooge becomes a decent human is like the rejoicing of the prodigal son returning! Of course it's a cause for celebration! People saying otherwise kind of sound like Scrooges themselves. Humbug. Scrooge becoming a decent human means so much for every one of his tenants, and everyone that he can help with his money.
My mom has this theory that Satan attacks those that can do the most good the hardest. That is why money corrupts, why power corrupts, why the Church is so often attacked from both within and without. Scrooge, a powerful man, would have been plagued by Satan. The fact that he overcame it, with the help of the Holy Spirit (aka the Ghosts of Christmas), is a miracle. I don't always believe in my mom's theory, but considering it helps me to have a lot more grace towards people that I might otherwise hold a lot of animosity towards (mainly politicians, but also certain Church leaders, priests, and rich folks.)
Merry Christmas, Claire. Thank you so much for this newsletter. It has helped with my faith so much this year. I'm in an incredibly small, protestant town. My family are some of the youngest at Church. Having this letter reminds me of my ministry days, being able to nerd out or rage or laugh in understanding over the many beauties of our faith. My soul has desperately missed that, and I appreciate you providing it through these letters. I'm hoping if you ever do a retreat, or another pilgrimage, I will be able to join you even if just to thank you in person.
Much of Advent this year felt like a slog. But I doubled down and did more and reached deeper and over the last week, not that I deserve it in any way, there has been a slow awakening in my heart and the Sun dawned yesterday and the following words began repeating over and over in my head, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." Your post today underlined and added to my awakening. Merry Christmas Claire - Have a wonderful and joyful holiday!
I logged off much of the holidays, so I'm just catching up now. But I felt compelled to comment because:
1. A Muppet Christmas Carol is far and away the best adaptation of A Christmas Carol, and the fact that Disney+ cuts Belle's "When Love Is Gone" is a tragedy. (I make my family pause it so that we can watch it on YouTube.)
2. The rejoicing of when Scrooge becomes a decent human is like the rejoicing of the prodigal son returning! Of course it's a cause for celebration! People saying otherwise kind of sound like Scrooges themselves. Humbug. Scrooge becoming a decent human means so much for every one of his tenants, and everyone that he can help with his money.
My mom has this theory that Satan attacks those that can do the most good the hardest. That is why money corrupts, why power corrupts, why the Church is so often attacked from both within and without. Scrooge, a powerful man, would have been plagued by Satan. The fact that he overcame it, with the help of the Holy Spirit (aka the Ghosts of Christmas), is a miracle. I don't always believe in my mom's theory, but considering it helps me to have a lot more grace towards people that I might otherwise hold a lot of animosity towards (mainly politicians, but also certain Church leaders, priests, and rich folks.)
Merry Christmas, Claire. Thank you so much for this newsletter. It has helped with my faith so much this year. I'm in an incredibly small, protestant town. My family are some of the youngest at Church. Having this letter reminds me of my ministry days, being able to nerd out or rage or laugh in understanding over the many beauties of our faith. My soul has desperately missed that, and I appreciate you providing it through these letters. I'm hoping if you ever do a retreat, or another pilgrimage, I will be able to join you even if just to thank you in person.
Much of Advent this year felt like a slog. But I doubled down and did more and reached deeper and over the last week, not that I deserve it in any way, there has been a slow awakening in my heart and the Sun dawned yesterday and the following words began repeating over and over in my head, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." Your post today underlined and added to my awakening. Merry Christmas Claire - Have a wonderful and joyful holiday!