A Christmas Carol -The musical

Tonight, Jan, Naomi and I were planning to go to the movies to see Amazing Grace, but instead we ended up watching at home "A Christmas Carol -The Musical" with Kelsey Grammer as Scrooge. The music is lively and the acting great. The location was somewhere in Hungary.

I have read and seen other versions of this story, but tonight the idea that everyone of us has the chance to go though a total transformation of wolrd view and character, came through clear and loud. Given the right circumstances and really paying attention when we reflect on our lives, in particular on our "shadows", we can effect in ourselves the transformation that Scrooge went through. Notice that the "assistants" in the transformation were spirits, just like in our daily transformation (Rom 12:1) the Holy Spirit is the main agent, but we have to be willing.

The film reminded me that we ought to reflect on our own lives often enough to realize when we are living God's way, and when we are not. The spirits in the story are a symbol of those circumstances that force us to look at ourselves and think hard about what we see or hear. The central question in this story is well known; as a matter of fact, Jesus posed the same dilemma to the rich young man: to really be transformed and receive eternal life, "go sell all you have, give it to the poor and then, come, follow me". Hard stuff, because it demands a hard look at how much are we willing to give up that which we value most in our lives, and then, follow Jesus.

Scrooge loved money the most, and had become a slave to it, loosing on the way love, friends, family, and all the good things in life that ironically are for free. He redeemed himself by changing his attitude and starting to make ammendments with those who were close to him. Simple but powerful program to express freedom from any kind of slavery. It made me think:

How do I express redemption in those areas in my life to which I still cling on?
How can I make immediate ammendments?
What would these actions be?

Let me know if you want to see this movie.

As a matter of fact, Mark and I were talking about starting a DVD-discussion pod. Who would be interested? If you are, let me know.

Fede