"Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, "My dear Scrooge, how are you? When will you come to see me?" No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o'clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge. Even the blind men's dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts; and then would wag their tails as though they said, "No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!" But what did Scrooge care? It was the very thing he liked. To edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance..."

Every year I read Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It is a tradition I began as a teenager and have continued through the years. I suppose I could almost quote it now.

Why read the same book over and over? Because we forget, don't we? Somewhere along the way Scrooge had forgotten. He had forgotten the love of Belle, the joy of the Feziwigs, the adoration of Fran. I imagine after his reclamation, he often thought of Jacob Marley, his second chance. Dickens reminds me each year of the chance of reclamation.

If you've never read the book, I encourage you to this Christmas. Don't get hung up on the Victorian vocabulary. Have a good dictionary handy and press on. Yes, I know you've seen the movie. (My favorite is the George C. Scott film. ) But until you've read Dickens account from the page, you don't know the whole story.

Many of the encounters with the Ghost of Christmas Present are absent from the film versions. The Ghost of Christmas Present gives the most powerful revelations. "This isn't a past you can't change. This isn't a future you may not yet believe. This is your life. This is your NOW and you're missing it." The Ghost of Christmas Present rattles my cage.

Even if the powers that be do not chose Dickens for the Book of the Month, you should make time for it in your busy holiday schedule. You will find yourself in the characters of this book. If you find much of yourself in Ebinezer, don't worry. There's still time before the clock strikes 1.