January 29: Good People All, Turkey Dinner, New Cartoon

But soon the steeples called good people all, to church and chapel, and away they came, flocking through the streets in their best clothes, and with their gayest faces.  And at the same time there emerged from scores of bye-streets, lanes, and nameless turnings, innumerable people, carrying their dinners to the baker's shops.  The sight of these poor revellers appeared to interest the Spirit very much, for he stood with Scrooge beside him in the baker's doorway, and taking off the covers as their bearers passed, sprinkled incense on their dinners from his torch.  And it was a very uncommon kind of torch, for once or twice when there were angry words between some dinner-carriers who had jostled with each other, he shed a few drops of water on them from it, and their good humour was restored directly.  For they said, it was a shame to quarrel upon Christmas Day.  And so it was!  God love it, so it was!

I love this description of the Ghost of Christmas Present in the streets of London.  On Christmas Day, all grudges and angers are usually put aside by family members and friends.  People have more patience, treat each other better.  For the most part, good will really is the rule of the day.

I love breaking bread on Christmas Day with family members.  Whether it's a big turkey/ham dinner with all the fixings or cold cuts and buttered rolls, there's really a sense of communion in Christmas food.  Cookies.  Home-made chocolates.  Egg nog.  Mashed potatoes.  Cranberries.  Pecan pie.  Turkey.  Baked ham.  Dickens spends several pages of A Christmas Carol describing typical Victorian holiday morsels, and, even though I'm not a big fan of goose (too greasy and gamy), my mouth always waters when I read these scenes.

I'm having a turkey dinner with my family tonight.  The bird is in the rotisserie, and the potatoes are peeled.  I can hardly wait.  I know most of my disciples don't really give a shit about what I'm having for dinner tonight.  Saint Marty is not a food blog.  However, when I sit down with such a bounty of food, I can't help but feel blessed.  I think that's why Christmas dinners seem so special.  It's all about blessing.  That's what the Spirit is doing in the passage I quoted above.  Blessing people.

That's what Saint Marty is going to feel tonight.  Blessed.

Confessions of Saint Marty