Why do we revisit this story every year? What is it about Scrooge’s journey that continually reveals something new about ourselves?

Every year about this time, I start to hunger to hear this story again. To make plain what I tend to forget or take for granted through much of the year. To remind myself that no matter how isolated or cynical one has become, there is always the possibility for transformation, the chance to replace our stony hearts with generous, loving ones. Gathering together to share in this story has become much more than simply tradition. It’s taken on the air of ritual, affording us the chance to reaffirm certain profound truths about our shared humanity.

One of those truths is the most basic of all: we need each other. I cannot know who I am without knowing who I am in relationship. To this community. To my family. To my friends. To my neighbors. To you. Scrooge, like many of us, seems to have forgotten this most basic of truths: that it is in relationship with others where we find meaning. Not in isolation. Not in things. But in community. Scrooge’s isolation impacts more than his own misery. It deprives his community of certain possibilities.

Similarly, the boundless gratitude of Tiny Tim is not just an individual virtue but a gift that is freely given to all in his orbit. Tim generously shares with all of us a vision for a more selfless, loving world. Each day, we’re given the opportunity to choose generosity, to reflect back to each other our authentic selves, and to help create that version of the world.

Like Scrooge on Christmas morning, “we haven’t missed it!” We still have time. Thank you for joining us again this year, and for reminding us of that beautiful truth.

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