A Christmas Carol: Confessions of a Recovering Scrooge

I have a confession to make: I am a Scrooge.

It’s unmistakable. Undeniable. Humbug, perhaps it was unavoidable. Like Scrooge, I am a money changer. Corporate finance has been my profession for more than a decade, and there are few things more terrifying to me than a life doomed to poverty. Can you blame me for an honest pursuit of substance and security!? How can I not be cross, especially at Christmas, in a world so full of fools?

Dickens gives us an unforgettable image: “Idiots going about with Merry Christmas on their lips should be boiled in their own pudding.” Can’t say I’ve ever imagined people boiling in pudding. Is that even possible? Though, I have experienced my fair share of contempt for people, and have certainly been stingy. I pay my taxes. Do those not already fund entitlement programs? Voluntarily give more? Why?

Spend money on others? I barely spend money on myself! Like Scrooge, I can be quite the miser. Warm gruel may not sound pleasant or appetizing, but it does sound cost-effective and nutritionally sufficient. Sign me up!

And yet, I have another confession to make: I would like to be more like Scrooge’s nephew, Fred.

Dickens describes him this way: “If you should happen by any unlikely chance to know a man more blest in a laugh than Scrooge’s nephew, all I can say is, I should like to know him too.” It’s not hard to admire that. Fred’s joy isn’t naïve or forced; it’s generous. He welcomes his uncle without conditions, without resentment, without keeping score.

So how do I become more like Fred and less like the man muttering about the world’s surplus population?

Perhaps it begins with letting go of my fear of the world. This is a key part of the Christmas message. Maybe I could honor Christmas in my heart and keep it all the year. Live in the past, the present, and the future, Scrooge’s vow after his harrowing encounter with the three spirits. Apologies for the spoiler, it’s only been out for over 180 years.

Bah. Humbug.

Maybe I’ll be a better person next year. Enjoy your pudding. I’ll enjoy my gruel.

For now.