The Sons of Dickens Meet the Sons of Freud

The talk of ghosts has come up lately. The family watched the Muppets Christmas Carol the other day, and the littlest one sought to become more informed on these strange creatures. As I think about this popular Christmas tale, I think how wise was the man who wrote it. Could we not all see such a transformation if we followed in the footsteps of Ebenezer Scrooge, for don't we all have ways we fall short of our potential?

First comes the spirit that shocks us into awareness. The one who has walked where we walk and yet has the advantage of seeing the end, the coming fall, the losses garnered on that road. The spirit of testimony. If we have the courage to hear this spirit, others will have room to speak. This step opens the door to change.

Next, the spirit of the past. When once we accept that first spirit's demand that we look in the mirror naked, without any garments of self-justification and without shifting our eyes to see who else might be in that mirror, we are ready to look back and benefit from a study of the why behind the who that we have become. This step opens the door to honesty.

If the revisit of the past is successful, we will be awakened to the second spirit, the spirit of the present. We will see with new eyes the truth of the world around us and our role in making it what it is, either for good or for bad. This step opens the door to empathy.

And should both these spirits be successful, we muster the courage to visit the most terrifying spirit of all...the spirit of the future. We are finally able to project ahead to the end of our current choices and see without delusion what could be the end of us. This step opens the door to life everlasting.

So thank you, Charles Dickens, for the story you told. May it prove true over and over again!
(and thank you University of Virginia for providing it online at: http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/DicChri.html )