January 14: Walking Forth, End of Snow, Beginning of School

"You have never seen the like of me before!" exlaimed the Spirit.

"Never," Scrooge made answer to it.

"Have never walked forth with the younger members of my family; meaning (for I am very young) my elder brothers born in these later years?" pursued the Phantom.


Mickey Cratchits


The Spirit in question is the Ghost of Christmas Present, and he's chiding Scrooge for never having made the acquaintance of any other Ghosts of Christmas Present.  Basically, he's saying Scrooge hasn't ever treated his fellow human beings with kindness and respect, with Christmas spirit.

It's a good lesson to learn.  Even Scrooge, who is mean, cruel, greedy, cheap, and compassionless, is shown mercy and kindness by several people--Bob, Fred, the ghost of Jacob Marley.  And it is through mercy and kindness that Scrooge's reclamation comes about.  Scrooge also witnesses mercy and kindness--at Fezziwig's, at the Cratchit household, at his nephew's Christmas party--and he becomes a better person.

I guess my point is that we should all walk forth among each other, spreading Christmas kindness all year long.  That's what good people do, even with the Scrooges in our lives.

The snow has pretty much ended.  It's moved to the East Coast.  The East Coast is welcome to it.  The sky is sort of dusting snow right now, but it's nothing like the last couple of days.  Everybody in the Upper Peninsula is walking around, saying things like, "We sure needed this snow."  Ecologically speaking, they are right.  The water table in our little ecosystem depends upon a certain amount of snow to combat the hot, dry months of summer.  However, I would prefer several days of light dustings as opposed to two days of severe storming.  It's easier to shovel light dust.

I spent a good deal of yesterday putting together my syllabus for this semester.  School begins on Monday, Martin Luther King Day.  I have made my workload much lighter this time for mythology, and I have two texts that I'm excited to teach.  It's going to be a good few months, friends.

I have a new cartoon for you.  If you hadn't realized it, it's a Lawrence Welk night.

Saint Marty is ready to walk forth, treating everyone with kindness and respect.

Confessions of Saint Marty