“God bless us every one!”
That’s one of my all-time favorite quotes from a Christmas book. It comes from my 3rd day of Christmas book, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
I don’t think I need to share the storyline of this book. You probably already know it. However, I will share some interesting background information about this well-known Christmas masterpiece.
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It was the Victorian era in England and the Industrial Revolution had caused a decline in the celebration of holidays. Fortunately, Christmas was brought back by a series of events in the 1840s. First, the tradition of decorating a Christmas tree was brought over from Germany and became popular in England. Then the first Christmas card was printed by John C. Horsley. Finally, around this same time, Dicken’s book, A Christmas Carol, was first published in London. It was an instant hit, selling out in its first week.
Part of the appeal of the book was the way it portrayed British families celebrating Christmas in the home. Previously, Christmas had been observed mostly in the church as a sacred event. Now Dickens showed how it could be enjoyed in the home as well as the church. Thanks, in part, to Dickens, Christmas was enkindled in the hearts and minds of the British people once again.
In the introduction of a later printing of the book, G. K. Chesterton applauds Dickens for contributing to the renewal of Christmas. He says, “He came just in time to save the embers of the Yule Log from being trampled out. It even cost him some trouble to kindle our newer Christian torches at so fading a glow…”
I don’t doubt that Dickens was inspired from above when he was writing this powerful story. It was meant to bring Christmas back to England and to share some valuable moral lessons about Christmas. These lessons are just as relevant today as they were in the 19th century. They seek to bring us back to the true meaning of Christmas, that is, God’s love for us and His desire that we share that love with others.
“God bless us every one!”
God bless you and yours this Christmas.
Many blessings,
