#TimeTravelStories: A Christmas Carol

Not sure if Charles Dickens would be delighted or horrified to see his Christmas story acted out by Muppets, but I like to think he’d be pleased. Particularly because the movie is just so much fun.

This year, I was more invested than ever while I watched Scrooge visit his past, present, and future. Undeniably, Michael Caine does a masterful job playing the lead role. But what stood out to me when I watched the movie this year was that Scrooge’s life had never been perfect. Choosing joy and celebration would have been hard for him, even as a little boy. It’s no wonder he chose to bury himself in hard work year after year. Sometimes being a scrooge isn’t just the easier choice-it’s the safer choice. After all, if you go ahead and remove yourself from community, you don’t have to risk being rejected.

And speaking of safe choices…

How ironic is it that in a season of togetherness and spreading good will toward men, the safest choice in 2020 has been staying apart? As the months of the pandemic have worn on, it’s especially bittersweet to try connecting virtually when we just miss being with our loved ones in person. On Easter-was that really eight months ago?-attending church services online and doing egg hunts over Facetime was a novelty. There was still a feeling of we’re-all-in-this-together, a sense that “soon” our lives would…