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“My dear children, I am very anxious that you should know something about the History of Jesus Christ. For everybody ought to know about Him. No one ever lived who was so good, so kind, so gentle, and so sorry for all people who did wrong, or were in any way ill or miserable, as He was.” ~Charles Dickens
With so much busyness and commercialism all around us at this time of year, and many mixed messages about the real meaning of Christmas, these 3 amazing books offer opportunities to everyone in our families to reconnect with the true “Christmas spirit”! A precious story about the life of Christ which Dickens wrote just for his family, a classic tale of a miserly man’s change of heart, and a novel rich with redemptive and sacrificial symbolism will re-center you in the true reason we celebrate Christmas – the birth of the One who has made salvation a reality for all of us.
Listener’s Guide:
Use the time stamps below to skip to any part of the podcast.
1:38 What is the “Christmas Spirit”?
2:51 The Life of Our Lord‘s history
6:10 What did Dickens really believe about Jesus?
11:39 Favorite quotes from The Life of Our Lord
15:05 A Christmas Carol
21:35 Themes in A Tale of Two Cities
25:05 Plot and favorite quotes from A Tale of Two Cities
Quotes from this episode:
“At last there came a poor widow who dropped in two mites, each half a farthing in value, and then went quietly away. Jesus, seeing her do this, as He rose to leave the place called His Disciples about Him, and said to them that that poor widow had been more truly charitable than all the rest who had given money that day; for the others were rich and would never miss what they had given, but she was very poor, and had given those two mites which might have bought her bread to eat. Let us never forget what the poor widow did, when we think we are charitable.“
“Remember!–It is Christianity TO DO GOOD, always–even to those who do evil to us. It is Christianity to love our neighbors as ourself, and to do to all men as we would have them do to us. It is Christianity to be gentle, merciful, and forgiving, and to keep those qualities quiet in our own hearts, and never make a boast of them, or of our prayers or of our love of God, but always to show that we love Him by humbly trying to do right in everything.”
“‘Good Spirit,’ he pursued, as down upon the ground he fell before it: ‘Your nature intercedes for me, and pities me. Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shown me, by an altered life!…I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!’ In his agony, he caught up the spectral hand. It sought to free itself, but he was strong in his entreaty, and detained it. The Spirit, stronger yet, repulsed him. Holding up his hands in one last prayer to have his fate reversed, he saw an alteration in the Phantom’s hood and dress. It shrunk, collapsed, and dwindled down into a bedpost…He was so fluttered and so glowing with his good intentions, that his broken voice would scarcely answer to his call. He had been sobbing violently in his conflict with the Spirit, and his face was wet with tears.“
“I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” John 11:25
Books from this episode:
