An Undigested Bit of Beef
Who am I?
Oddly enough, in this situation, it is not entirely clear. I may be the poor man in the streets wishing you ill or, perhaps, I am Dickens just conveying a story. More closely I believe I am that dark spector, unengage and uninvested....just doing a task. Hah! What an ego I have.
So, when did it happen to you? When did you become Scrooge without the knowledge that you had crossed over? You're probably not aware of it but those of us on the outside, we see it quite clearly. Did it happen as a little boy? Did your father, like poor Scrooge, not love you enough? Ah well, those are not questions that will be answered to me nor are they my business but I tend to be far too curious for my own good, so there you go.
The suit you put on that hides him.....it does not serve you well. It can only be worn so long before, eventually, it turns to tatters. Your lovely home and beautiful family, will it ever be enough? Or are you on to the next big thing? Who have you left behind? I ask but, truly, I know that answer. You do not care, it has not affected your sleep. The sly and clever way you speak, those machinations and manipulations, eventually they will turn on you when someone more ruthless and far more cleaver comes along.
One can only hope for that because if that person doesn't come along, I fear you will never open your eyes to why you are here.
Jacob said it well, "Business! Mankind was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The deals of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!"
If you don't feel Jacob the ghost a reliable source, you might check another. Romans 12:10, 1 John 4:20-21, Ohhhh and James 2:1-13 is quite applicable.
I am definitely a ghost, not seen, not thought of. Not entirely sure if I care all that much about my message but I am trying for a higher calling, treating my fellow people as best I can.
I wonder, can you say the same?
I just read a piece in The Guardian yesterday about the fact that while people today often see a Christmas Carol as a redemption story, Dickens actually wrote it as a way to get people to pay attention to the ways in which poor people were oppressed and to get interested in changing things.
ReplyDeleteI have in love with this novella since the mid-80s and for the past 18 months or so have gotten further into Victorian literature in general (I have a pile next to me as I type and I won't think about the hundreds on my e-reader--too many books, too little time!). What always strikes me when reading work from this time is how relevant it still is and how, with a change in specific names, dates, or situations, the things they are writing about are still true now. It is sad.
This quote is a good one, too:
“Man,” said the Ghost, “if man you be in heart, not adamant, forbear that wicked cant until you have discovered What the surplus is, and Where it is. Will you decide what men shall live, what men shall die? It may be, that in the sight of Heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man’s child. Oh God! to hear the Insect on the leaf pronouncing on the too much life among his hungry brothers in the dust!”
I'll stop now before I get carried away ;-)
Well darn! I should have added that. Maybe I will before I send this little piece out to it’s recipient
DeleteSomeone has definitely got under your skin, I see!
ReplyDeleteHe's taken up residence for about 8 years. This is me getting rid of him.
DeleteThat scourge is well gone from your life!
ReplyDelete