Follow the star to Bethlehem

We live in a strange world surrounded daily by people that enrage us, and annoy us completely. We give no slack to anyone. We give no thought to others when things don't go our way. We wonder why God put all these troubles in our lives, and not somebody else. When Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol he sought the perfect enemy to the season. Bitter, contrite, pessimistic, materialistic, mean. What did he draw upon for his inspiration?

We, people, are Scrooge made flesh. Sure none of us have all the attributes (at least I hope not), but all of us at some time or another have displayed a trait of Ebeneezer (which ironically means :Stone of Help"). I'm calling for a better Christmas. One where instead of yelling at the clerk who can't find the item your looking for, you thank them and say, "God bless you." If fact instead of thank you when anyone opens a door, or picks something up you may have dropped, or hands the change back from your recent purchase say "God Bless You".

Our movies, books, and songs are filled with life lessons we never follow. We cry at happy endings, but rarely go out of our way to cause them in real life. None of our Christmas movies (save 2) have anything to do with getting the perfect present for someone. Their filled with hope, dreams, and miracles. The best thing is I'm not asking for a big dream, or even a miracle. Just hope that you'll read these words, and maybe cause someone's day to be just a bit better.

This year Jim Carey stars at Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. I haven't seen it yet, but I hear it is really dark, and some young kids shouldn't go see it. Is it really darker than the world around them? Where we yell at waitresses who take too long with our food knowing good and well we are not, nor ever have been, the only ones in the restaurant? Where we yell at someone who jumped in front of us for that parking spot, knowing if the roles in reverse we would laugh? Where we fuss at our misfortunes, but never offer help when we see others go down the same road? Where we only display the meaning of Christmas under the tree?

My single challenge to you is when you feel hatred, or rage this season imagine yourself Christmas morning. Three ghosts have visited you during the night. Your last glimpse before you woke was a hooded figure showing you your own death. You open your eyes to sunlight streaming into the window, you hear bells. And this is the best part . . . You think, "I'm alive. maybe, just maybe there's still time."

You can turn it around. You be the better person. "You're alive, and maybe there's still time."