Prescribed Reading: A Christmas Carol and the Examen

Welcome to another installment of our Prescribed Reading Series! In this series we share books that we find support your mental health. At Grace and Nature we want you to have a plethora of resources outside of the counseling room and reading literature is one of our favorite tools! 

With Christmas fast approaching, I wanted to share one of my favorite books to re-read every year with our family. If you’ve never read a Christmas Carol, you are missing out! Although A Muppet Christmas Carol is by far and away the best adaptation (Michael Cane is superb!) you miss out on so much of the deeper reflections on life that Charles Dickens sprinkles throughout the novel.

Each year, I love returning to this book as an examination of conscience.  In Catholicism, we have a long tradition of examining our conscience, usually during Lent as we prepare for Easter. But Christmas is also a season of preparation. Like Scrooge sometimes we need voices that help us objectively guide us through the work of self examination.

Below I’ve provided some questions you can use for reflection as you move through the novel (or movie). Use this reading as a time to soften your heart and create space for the King of Kings when he comes on Christmas day. 

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The Ghost of Christmas Past:

Dickens pulls back the veil with the first ghost and shows us how Scrooge came to be the curmudgeon we are first encounter. This ghost shows us a young Ebenezer full of love, joy, and hope for the future. We too can examine our past to find nuggets of truth: 

Examination Questions

• Are there wounds from my past that affect how I view myself or others? 

• Where have I felt free in the past but now have lost sense of freedom? 

• Are there times that I chosen comfort, security, or pride over my relationships with others? 

• Where in my past do I wish the Lord would bring his healing presence?

  • If you have a clear point, take time in prayer to ask Jesus to enter into that moment with you. Ask the Holy Spirit to shine the light of his wisdom into the shadows of the past.

The Ghost of Christmas Present

With this ghost, Dickens shows us the roles of suffering and quiet goodness. He shows us the effects of love and gratitude. And he contrasts this in Scrooge and all the ways he ignores these realities in most people around him.

Examination Questions

• Where am I blind to the goodness or needs of others in my life?

• On a scale of 0% to 100%, how aware am I of my blessings?

• Where is God calling me to love others today, right now. Not in the vague future.

• Are there people or responsibilities I have dismissed, judged, or pushed away?

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

Life moves fast and if we don’t stop to examine what the potential long term consequences of our habits will be, we run the risk of deep regrets later in life. This is exactly what the last ghost invites Scrooge to do. He asks him to examine a future shaped by his current choices. He shows him the fruit of refusing to show mercy, generosity, or sensitivity to others' experiences. And he doesn't emotionally rescue him from that reality. When Scrooge becomes upset and afraid, asking for words of comfort, the ghost silently and without malice, points his attention to the fruit of his vices.

Examination Questions

• If I never work on changing my unhealthy or unconscious habits, who will I become 10, 20, 30 years from now? 

• When I look back on the timeline of my life when I am 80 years old, what will I want to see on that timeline? Are my current actions supporting that vision? 

• How do I need to change today so that I can love well tomorrow? 

A Season for Turning Inward

As you move through the novel (or through the movie) this Christmas season, I pray that it helps you turn your attention inward. I pray that it helps you gently ask yourself these questions. Do not to shame yourself, but be honest about where you are so that you can reorient yourself towards Whom you are moving, the Lord of truth, beauty, goodness, and infinite charity and love. And in the words of Tiny Tim: God bless us, every one!”