December 2022—Merry Christmas—Home Sweet Home!
I love Christmas time! I also love the way my husband David carefully decorates the outside of our home in such a caring, beautiful way! He loves Christmas as much as I do!
Christmas is always a wonderful combination of joy, a bit of stress, putting up old, well-loved decorations, trying to plan meals and festivities ahead of time, rushing at the last minute over something forgotten, love and laughter with family and friends, and truly appreciating the real reason for Christmas—Jesus Christ. How I love our dear Savior!
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder.And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
One movie we like to watch each year is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, which teaches in a powerful way how to look outside ourselves and care for the needs of others. This year we found another lovely program, which told the background story of why Charles Dickens wrote this little masterpiece. It is called, “A Dickens Christmas,” and it lasts about 18 minutes long on the YouTube channel. I hope you will watch it and feel the inspiration of both the story and the majestic music!
"A Dickens Christmas" is the story of the creation of Charles Dickens’s beloved tale "A Christmas Carol." John Rhys-Davies joins fellow actors in portraying Dickens struggles when writing the book. They are backed up by The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square. Music in the section is by Mack Wilberg, with text by David Warner. Episode 4396B. Aired December 15, 2013
A CHRISTMAS CAROL BY CHARLES DICKENS
Favoriter Quotations:
“God bless us every one!”
“Every traveler has a home of his own, and he learns to appreciate it the more from his wandering.”
“Reflect upon your present blessings—of which every man has many—not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”
“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good-humour.”
“‘Bah,’ said Scrooge, ‘Humbug.’ ‘Business!’ cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. ‘Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!’
“‘There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,’ returned the nephew. ‘Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round—apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that—as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!‘”
“I see a vacant seat,” replied the Ghost, “in the poor chimney-corner, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved. If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die.”
“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. will not shut out the lessons that they teach.”
“Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world.”