Traditions: Charlie Brown, Scrooge and It's A Wonderful Life

"You've been given a great gift, George: A chance to see what the world would be like without you. " ~Clarence

The celebration of Christmas has resulted in a whole host of traditions that families pass down from one generation to the next. Decorating the Christmas tree, singing carols, reading the Christmas story and exchanging gifts are just a few of the common traditions that extend back many long years through the generations.

In more recent years, because movies and television have more or less emerged during the Boomer generation, a new set of traditions has been added. For some families it's the watching of Charlie Brown's Christmas, created by Charles Schultz near 60 years ago for television. In our family it has been the shared watching of A Christmas Carol, the George C. Scott version.

Before we finally got the DVD we used to watch a VHS version that we taped from television in the late 1980s. Watching this story for ten, fifteen and twenty years has not only brought a continuity to our traditions, but a lot of laughs as we try to say some of the lines just before they're said on the film. "Cratchitt!"... and "Another sound from you... and you'll keep your Christmas by losing your situation."

After the visit by deceased friend and partner Jacob Marley, the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future all visit the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas eve and teach him that there are other ways of looking at the world besides the way he sees things. The lessons are many and valuable, with the story richly entertaining and heart-warming to boot.

Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed in "It's a Wonderful Life"

There's another film that many families share as a tradition. Like A Christmas Carol it's the story of a man who has been seeing things wrong, but instead of ghosts helping him get perspective on his life, it's a quirky guardian angel named Clarence, striving to earn his wings.

This film, too, has so many memorable moments and lines. The scene where Jimmy Stewart is inwardly despondent over the lost money and lashes out at his children is heartbreaking in the extreme. The screenwriting, directing by Frank Capra and the acting are all five star. In honor of the 65th anniversary of this film, the Los Angeles City Council declared it "It's a Wonderful Life Day."

One theme common to both these films is the deep insight that our lives are interconnected to others in ways we often don't see because we're caught up in our selves. If we're fortunate, we can begin to grasp the truths contained here without a visitation by ghosts or George Bailey's suicidal despair.

Whatever your traditions as regards Christmas, my prayer is that you will be richly rewarded with new self-understanding this season as regards your role in the bigger scheme of things. For some reason I keep wanting to say thank you.

"You see George, you've really had a wonderful life. Don't you see what a mistake it would be to just throw it away?"

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Scrooge's Question for Our Times: Hope or Doom?

For my family it has been a Christmas eve tradition to watch the George C. Scott version of Charles Dickens’ timeless “A Christmas Carol” each year. Over the course of three decades we’ve probably memorized all the scenes and half the lines, yet we still enjoy it as both entertainment and soul food.

It’s a strange story about an old miserly man, Ebeneezer Scrooge, who is visited by three ghosts. The first ghost shows him key moments from his past. The second, the Ghost of Christmas Present, gives him a tour of events taking place at this very moment in time.

Then, near the climax of the film, Scrooge is led to a snow-covered grave slab by the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come whereupon he cries out, “Spirit, are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they shadows of the things that May be, only?” 

At its core, this statement addresses the distinction between fate and free will. Scrooge is inquiring whether the scenes he is witnessing, depicting a bleak and desolate future, are preordained and immutable or if they represent possibilities that can be altered through choices and actions. This inquiry has profound personal and societal implications.

On a personal level, Scrooge’s question prompts us to reflect on the choices we make and the potential for change in our own lives. It reminds us that our destinies are not set in stone but are shaped by our decisions and choices. Just as Scrooge had the agency to transform from a miserly, cold-hearted figure to a generous, compassionate one, so do we ourselves possess the power to redirect our own futures through acts of kindness, empathy, and selflessness.

I thought of these things today, in part, because of my concern about the future for our country. I see the disruption, the brokenness, the polarization, the lawlessness, the cruelty, the failures of our institutions and fear that I am watching a slow motion train wreck. Are we standing on the precipice of a national collapse?

I ask myself, “Are these current events the shadows of things that Will be, or are they only shadows of the things that May be?” 

It’s a call for reflection as the answer to this question will be determined by our collective choices. Let’s not be swept away by hysteria and hate. Mercy, humility and wisdom are the values we need to embrace. 

Are we witnessing a national train wreck? The future is in our hands.

It's a Wonderful Life

"You've been given a great gift, George: A chance to see what the world would be like without you. " ~Clarence

The celebration of Christmas has resulted in a whole host of traditions that families pass down from one generation to the next. Decorating the Christmas tree, singing carols, reading the Christmas story and exchanging gifts are just a few of the common traditions that extend back many long years through the generations.

In more recent years, because movies and television have more or less emerged during the Boomer generation, a new set of traditions has been added. For some families it's the watching of Charlie Brown's Christmas, created by Charles Schultz near 60 years ago for television. In our family it has been the shared watching of A Christmas Carol, the George C. Scott version.

Before we finally got the DVD we used to watch a VHS version that we taped from television in the late 1980s. Watching this story for ten, fifteen and twenty years has not only brought a continuity to our traditions, but a lot of laughs as we try to say some of the lines just before they're said on the film. "Cratchitt!"... and "Another sound from you... and you'll keep your Christmas by losing your situation."

After the visit by deceased friend and partner Jacob Marley, the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future all visit the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas eve and teach him that there are other ways of looking at the world besides the way he sees things. The lessons are many and valuable, and the story richly entertaining and heart-warming to boot.

There's another film that many families share as a tradition. Like A Christmas Carol it's the story of a man who has been seeing things wrong, but instead of ghosts helping him get perspective on his life, it's a quirky guardian angel named Clarence, striving to earn his wings.

This film, too, has so many memorable moments and lines. The scene where Jimmy Stewart is inwardly despondent over the lost money and lashes out at his children is heartbreaking in the extreme. The screenwriting, directing by Frank Capra and the acting are all five star. In honor of the 65th anniversary of this film, the Los Angeles City Council declared this past Friday "It's a Wonderful Life Day."

One theme common to both these films is the deep insight that our lives are interconnected to others in ways we often don't see because we're caught up in our selves. If we're fortunate, we can begin to grasp the truths contained here without a visitation by ghosts or George Bailey's suicidal despair.

Whatever your traditions as regards Christmas, my prayer is that you will be richly rewarded with new self-understanding this season as regards your role in the bigger scheme of things. For some reason I keep wanting to say thank you.

"You see George, you've really had a wonderful life. Don't you see what a mistake it would be to just throw it away?"

Thank you, thank you, thank you.