Never a Humbug!

Very soon it will be Advent and my favorite time of year.  We recently finished reading The Hobbit, which was supposed to take us the entire school year.  Not surprisingly, though, we finished it earlier than I expected.  (Who can resist the lure of hairy-footed hobbits and dragons???!!!)

To fill that "literature" spot in our school schedule, we decided to give Dickens' A Christmas Carol another shot.  We had tried reading it together last year, when the girls were in third grade and kindergarten, and it just didn't work.  But two weeks ago, I hesitatingly cracked it open again and it has been a rousing success!  While I still have to take time to look up explain some antiquated English terms to the girls, it has been a much smoother run so far this year than last.  It also helps that the girls aren't as "scared"as they were last year.  (Perhaps I can thank my husband for toughening their skin by introducing them to Cobra with the old-school G.I. Joe cartoons?)

I can't decide if the best part of this new journey into A Christmas Carol has been the quality of the book, or the beautiful religious imagery that has given us so much to talk about.  We are reading the hardback copy illustrated by P.J. Lynch.  (For those of you familiar with The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, it's the same illustrator!)  Each illustration is truly a work of art and seems to bring the text alive for the girls.  If you are seeking out a nice copy of this book, I can't recommend this one enough!  (Please note, if you "look inside" the book on Amazon, you are seeing a DIFFERENT version than the one we are reading.  The pictures below are the actual pictures of the version to which I am referring.)

We just finished the first chapter, and I can already see the girls processing Scrooge's journey in light of our own faith.  A couple of our favorite quotes from the text have been:

"I wear the chain I forged in life," replied the Ghost.  "I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it."  (Stave One, page 32)

"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 in the water in the comprehensive ocean of my business." (Stave One, page 35)

We have had some interesting discussions about sin, our free will, the choices we make and how we live with the consequences of those choices both now and after death.  Interesting questions abound, like, "Is Marley in Purgatory, Mom?"  And the best part is having the time to sit and discuss the answers:  "Do you think he is?"  "How does the way Dickens is presenting Marley differ from what you have learned about Purgatory?"  "What do you think Dickens is trying to say about how we live our lives and our choices?"  

It's times like this, curled up on the folded-out futon, that I'm so thankful that we get to share these moments, these great books, and use them to work toward being better versions of ourselves.  And there's no better time to start doing that than Advent!