During a time of so much unrest in the world, it was nice to take an afternoon and re-read a classic that focused on the positivity of human spirit and the season of generosity.

Reading it for the first time since I was a kid, there was so much I didn't remember. I must say, out of everything to take away from this story, everyone should know how profound a character Fred is. Scrooge's nephew is absolutely under-rated and deserves heaps of credit for his message all throughout the story. The bit that stuck with me the most this go-round, since it's so relevant today, is when Fred states, "...I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round- apart from veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it, can be apart from that- as good a time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really we fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys".

There is so much going on in society with terrorism, commercialism, an ugly Presidential race (in the US), and general prejudice, bigotry, racism, etc that I have to wonder... A lot of the world celebrates Christmas as they do Hanukkah, Kwanza, and other festivities this time of year. One is no better than the other, and they're all equally important. When you sit down to enjoy a holiday movie, time with family, or decide to shut out the world with a timeless story such as this one, pump the brakes a bit. Instead of separating each other into our religious or spiritual denominational boxes, keep the spirit of the general holiday in your heart. Show kindness and generosity to those around you. Whether lesser or better, we're all going to wind up in the same place one day. I'm really glad I took some time out of my afternoon to focus on the positivity of the lessons Scrooge has learned. All I can do is keep my fingers crossed that this classic message and theme trickles into the brains of any others who choose to read this story or settle in for the film version. Treat every day like Christmas and keep that good spirit towards your fellow man all year round!

As Tiny Tim so famously states, "God bless us, everyone!"