The Example of Scrooge

The evolution of Dickens' classic character can be an inspiration to change.

By Mark McDermott

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   The year 2024 presents a forbidding landscape to most who follow current events. Active wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, climate change (or climate policies, depending on your opinion), and of course the U.S. election dominate headlines and debates. But perhaps just as concerning is that around the world rich and poor alike are tightening their belts for a hard year. We have felt inflation, tough job searches, and watched home ownership slip out of reach; between ongoing conflicts and earthquakes in Turkey and Morocco, millions of people may be dreading another year of food shortages. With the holidays, we’re just hoping to catch a break. Nobody wants to find themselves “a year older and not an hour richer” one year from now.

The Scrooge we first think of...	...is not the Scrooge we can hope to be.

It seems harsh to evoke the words of Dickens’s classic antagonist, Scrooge, but it’s not a criticism for saving – it’s an invitation. It’s easy to cast Scrooge off as an ogre: it’s comforting to project his vices as coming from something very different from ourselves. But the prototypical Scrooge simply follows what he was taught by society and life experience, placing the security of money above everything else. Money provides security against the uncertainty of the future, something that can be understood and trusted. Scrooge merely represents an orthodox interpretation of the natural wisdom of frugality that we often praise as “thrift” or “prudence.”

But the point of “A Christmas Carol” is transformation. Scrooge should be seen as a character like the biblical Saul or, in modern canon, Darth Vader. When push comes to shove, Scrooge, Vader, and Saul each have a change of heart and choose to do the right thing. And while their spirit is indelibly changed, they preserve much of their life: Scrooge remains a broker, Saul a scholar and missionary, and Vader a Jedi. But it’s how they each go about their lives and where they put their focus that marks their metamorphosis.

And fortunately for us, in the modern world, it is more possible for “the spirit within” us to “travel far and wide” than in Scrooge’s time. The West especially is blessed with groups like Catholic Relief Services that range around the globe, directing support to where it is most needed. Like Scrooge, we don’t have to drop everything to change our ways. Many have already committed their lives to the causes that matter to us, and all we have to do is remember them. If we can simply change how we motivate our work in the coming year, and place our focus on these causes despite the challenges and uncertainty we face, then this time next year we have a way to know we did something good with the time. Remembering our values is the necessary balance for the present, tangible appeal of money. If we can learn from Scrooge’s transformation, we’ll look forward to seeing ourselves a year older and a year richer in hope and fulfillment, whatever the future may hold.