A Christmas wish

Still, I watch the movies every year almost ritually. I also read the book every year, a slim volume that, in my edition, is wonderfully illustrated by Arthur Rackham.

There are passages that speak to me so profoundly that they are committed to memory, this one, perhaps, most of all: “It is a time, of all others, when want is keenly felt, and abundance rejoices.” 

I can recite the lines. I know the scenes. I can see the three specters who visit Ebenezer Scrooge in a single night. And it moves me every time, in the same way and in the same place in the story. Scrooge has become synonymous with cold and cruel avarice. But what always stirs me is Scrooge’s redemption — the forgiveness, the restoration of a generous heart and the chance to live anew as the person he would wish to be. Who among us would not welcome this?

This morning’s sunrise marked the end of the winter solstice. Once again, we endured the longest night of a year that is nearing its final hours. Long nights invite long thoughts and the end of a year invites reflection.

Politics is all about reflection. Political leaders don’t lead, they follow public sentiment. The same is true of the news business; we reflect ourselves. One mundane and time-honored practice is the writing of year-enders — stories that wrap up the year. We can expect many such stories to focus at length on the anger we see in our country and in our communities — among our political leaders and among ourselves.

We see it every day, it seems. In the just-concluded political campaigns that seemed to be desperate fights against — what? Someone else winning? Some other viewpoint prevailing? And over what? Traffic? Housing?

We see it not just in the bitter post-election disputes between some of our elected officials, but in the revved-up rhetoric from supporters of these individuals and their respective points of view. Too many among us believe they have permission to disagree in any manner they wish — because of their beliefs.

Anger and entitlement — quite a combination.

Really, what on Earth do we have to be angry about? We are in a place that is touched by grace and good fortune. So many of us simply were born lucky — to be here, now, in a home that is heated and well-lit and where there is food on the table. And rather than appreciate this luck of the draw, too many of us seem intent on anger — on either taking away from others their good fortune or zealously guarding against someone else getting more.

German playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht wrote, “The compulsion to win is the black addiction of the brain.”

Maybe this has been the problem with 2022 — that it was too much about winning. Winning is black and white, either/or, yes/no, up or down. It is stark and invites no nuance. Maybe it has spilled over into the daily lives we live — whether it is someone cutting you off in traffic, or someone cutting off debate online. 

A new year awaits us and maybe we can see it as a chance to do better. We will have to sort this out ourselves. Such a revelation is unlikely to be delivered by three ghosts on Christmas Eve.

Even without the benefit of Dickens, we can wish to do better, we can strive to do better, encouraged, perhaps, by a world that begins to turn toward daylight again.

At this time of year, I turn to “A Christmas Carol.” And to this passage: “I have always thought of Christmastime … as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of … when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely and to think of people … as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.”

Mark Simon is a veteran journalist, whose career included 15 years as an executive at SamTrans and Caltrain. He can be reached at marksimon@smdailyjournal.com.