These two sentences appear immediately before Scrooge's encounter with the Ghost of Christmas Present. Scrooge has no idea what he's about to encounter. By this time in the book, he's encountered all kinds of phantoms, some frightening, some not so frightening. If I were him, I would be hiding under the bed with the chamber pot.
You know, the future is a scary thing sometimes, especially if you're not sure what the future holds. For instance, at the moment, money is pretty tight for my family. Really tight. Coming off the summer, when I never get classes to teach, September/October is always a catch-up month when it comes to bills. By the end of August, I'm usually pulling out what little hair I have left over every dime I have to spend. I know it's bad when I look at a fifty-cent pack of gum and say to my daughter, "You really don't need that." Yes, it gets that bad.
I don't like living that kind of existence, in a constant state of worry. I feel like Scrooge, always on the threshold with my hand on the doorknob, not knowing what kind of ghoul I'm about to meet. I'm hoping that my wife's new job will alleviate some of this stress. She gets her first paycheck next week, thank God. It won't be huge, but it will help.
This is one area of my life where my faith and trust fall a little short. Even though I've received unexpected checks in the mail before, I just can't look at a bill and the balance in my checking account and think, "God will provide." I just can't get to that place.
Saint Marty hopes that strange voice on the other side of the door, calling out to him, is the Ghost of Oprah Present, offering him a multi-million dollar contract to write for O magazine.
Confessions of Saint Marty
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