I may say, ‘Bah, Humbug,’ but I’m not Ebenezer Scrooge

Yes, there have been times, I must admit, that I have been called "Ebenezer Scrooge," especially on Christmas shopping trips.

Now, it's not that I'm anything like the character in Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." After all, I'm not a miserly old fellow who sits around counting his money 'cause there just isn't much to count. Instead, I sometimes am a bit more hesitant to spend money I don't have to count in order to give Christmas presents to folks who probably don't want or need what I might give them anyway.

If I recall right, Ebenezer had it to give but didn't want to — that is, until after his ghostly visitors. Does it make a fellow a scrooge if he doesn't want to give what he doesn't yet have to folks who don't really need it anyway?

I know that the merchants need our business during the holiday season to sell all those things that people wouldn't buy during the rest of the year, but is that what Christmas is all about? It seems to me that Christmas isn't about the gifts we give, but about the Gift God gave! But we get so busy with the shopping and eating and decorating that we don't even have time for the real Christmas.

Could it be that those words, "bah" and "humbug," are not directed against Christmas but against all those things that get in the way of Christmas?

You know, too, it really is a shame that Charles Dickens ruined the good name of Ebenezer by associating it with a miserly old fellow who wasn't considerate of others and wouldn't help those in need. Though Dickens might have combined the names on purpose to make a veiled point, Ebenezer and Scrooge are names that just don't go together at all!

A scrooge is, well, a scrooge; but Ebenezer comes from Hebrew and means "rock of help." It refers to the steadfast help of God Himself. So how could anybody be an Ebenezer and a scrooge at the same time, anyway?

And so, if you hear me muttering those words, "Bah! Humbug!" a time or two when I'm told how many people have been added to our Christmas list or when the radio and TV are full of ads for all those special Christmas sales, it's not because I'm in any way related to Ebenezer Scrooge. It's just that I have a bit of disdain for all the deception in regard to what Christmas is really about!

Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer and can be contacted by email at [email protected].

Editorial on 12/11/2013