Christmas is a season for
celebration. We come together with loved ones and express our love with various
traditions and ceremonies. I am deeply thankful for my family and friends and
the joy I feel to share life with them. However, I am also deeply aware of the
growing concerns in our world. In my view, we live in a world that is driven by
greed. The powerful people in the world oppress the powerless driven by their
greed. There are many examples of a life of greed and what greed accomplishes
in this world. Christmas is the time when we choose to revisit stories about
greed. Let’s look at a few together.
Charles Dickens gave us Ebenezer
Scrooge in 1843 to try and change our minds about greediness. Scrooge was the
protagonist in A Christmas Carol. Ebenezer
was taken on a journey through his life so that he could see the events that
led to his greed. He had allowed the suffering in his life to turn him into a
closed-hearted man. He had gained all of the wealth one man could ever need but
had lost his soul. This story has been told over and over because it is filled
with truth. In the end Ebenezer sees the error of his ways and becomes a new
man; a generous man. Generosity wins!
One hundred years later, in 1943,
another story was published called, The
Greatest Gift. This short story was about a man named George Pratt who is dissatisfied
with his life and contemplates suicide on Christmas Eve. The story was later
adapted to film and we know that man as George Bailey and the story as, It’s A Wonderful Life. George Bailey,
the protagonist in this story, is also taken on a journey through his life.
George is the antithesis of Ebenezer. George’s life was sacrificial. He was a
man who set aside his own wants and desires in the service of others. George’s
nemesis throughout the film is a greedy man named Henry F. Potter. He is the
local banker and the richest man in town. Potter’s greed drives his every move.
His goal is to destroy George’s good will and rule the town. In this film, we
see the contrast of life as a generous person or life as a greedy person. In
the end, the whole town celebrates life with George Bailey. Generosity wins!
Sixty years ago, in 1957, another
story was published that has become a standard of our Christmas tradition. How The Grinch Stole Christmas, written
by Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel. Once again we are given the gift of seeing what
greed does to the human heart. The protagonist is the Grinch whose heart is two
sizes too small. I always had a difficult time watching this story in cartoon
form as a kid because the Grinch was so evil and scary looking. Boris Karloff
did his job well. The children’s story is designed to teach our children the
value of living a life of generosity, the opposite of greed. The Grinch was a
hoarder. He though that if he could steal Christmas then everyone would be as
unhappy as he was himself. But as we know the plan backfired and the
inhabitants of Whoville celebrate Christmas anyway. This causes the Grinch’s
heart to grow three sizes and he becomes generous. He gives back everything
that he stole and in return is given an honored place in Whoville. Generosity
wins!
We love these stories because
intuitively we know that they speak the truth. All of us fall somewhere between
greed and generosity. We would like to see ourselves as the generous ones in
these stories and point the finger at others who are more greedy than we are to
prove the point. We pull these stories out at Christmastime to remind ourselves
to be givers not takers. This is great because we do not live in a very
generous society. We are constantly bombarded with messages of America first.
These messages are shrouded in fear designed to control the masses. The rich
and powerful among us are filled with greed. The man that we have chosen to
lead us in this country has lived a life of greed. He may gain the whole world
but where is his soul? If he showed up in one of these Christmas stories which
character would he most resemble? Men like these would like to steal the heart
of Christmas from all of us.
So how do we respond? We must
examine our own hearts and see the greed that is within us. We must turn our
hearts toward kindness and compassion. This will lead us toward generosity. And
we have to take this generosity into our hearts 365 days a year lest we become sucked
back into the vortex greed.
I choose to follow the teachings of
Jesus, a man who was sacrificial and generous. He teaches me how to live a life
of compassion and love. I still have much to learn. He wasn’t afraid to speak
out to the powerful men of his time and call out there life of greed. He made a
lot of enemies with those in power and it got him crucified. His life was about
love and justice. I want my life to be about love and justice too.
God teach me to be generous instead
of greedy.
Teach me to live in trust rather
than fear.
Merry Christmas,
Cathy
