We were watching the Muppet Christmas Carol when I was hit by an interesting and important insight.
Dickenson did indeed 'invent' our modern concept of christmas, not Coca Cola. Nostalgia in Christmas Past and "Cheer" in Christmas Present.
But there is a dark undercurrent of depression and despair; it doesn't have to be blood curdling murder, it is among other things the difference between what we expect Christmas to be and what it actually is...and that is the Ghost of Christmas Future.
Scrooge is legitimately evil and betrays his own culture; but many others are caught up in a theology or holiday they never signed up for or believe in...it is easy to like the nostalgia or the cheer, but many folks never felt connected to it at all, terrible memories or simply an enhancement of depression
But the hooded figure that serves as the linchpin to scrooge people isnt just for looming silently and pointing; he is a subtle undertone that Dickenson reminds us that without our action; Christmas is darkness. That is not a chain of obligation around the neck of the depressed to smile and lie that they are having a good time, rather a challenge to those of us who are able to look out for others and include them, that it is a celebration we must collectively as a community seek to embrace. It is the reminder that the future is always a shadow unless we choose to make it more in the present.
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