MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I love the story of Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. Of course, you can't beat Dickens for a great intrigue with lots of entertaining narrative. But, Mr. Scrooge proves, above all else, that people can change. It seems that if there's hope for Scrooge, there's hope for anyone. As Lynus said in "A Charlie Brown Christmas", "That's what Christmas is all about," Charlie Brown.

If you're a person who doesn't often listen to what others have to say; if you feel you already know everything that's worth knowing and your mind is made up, -so much so that you don't want to be confused with the facts, then you are not going to be apt to change.

Understandably, some of us feel that we are content in the knowledge of who we are, what we believe to be true and self-evident and that we know a great deal more than most people. That's the description of 'smug'.

Smugness is not always safe. It can land you in a place called Regret.

 For Christmas this year, may I offer a piece of friendly advice to face the New Year with? Open up to others. Listen to what others have to say about how you affect them. You may be surprised to find out that there is actually more than one way to do things.

Take a look at Scrooge. He had to go through a rude awakening by suffering severe visitations from spirits intent on giving him a shocking reality check. It didn't come easy for him to begin to admit that maybe he was possibly wrong about a few things. In fact, he had to see himself in the future as a corpse before the fear of God was finally thrown into him. But, when he finally humbled himself, he didn't let public opinion hold him back. He threw himself into his new persona regardless of what anyone thought.

That's what I admire about Scrooge the most. He became like a little child, full of the joy of living. That's the kind of future I wish us all! Let it be fearless, full of the joy of living, full of hope and faith and full of the freedom true humility can bring!