I can’t be the only one who has asked recently “what day is it?” When our usual sense of rhythm and routine is gone, it’s hard to know the answer sometimes. But I’ve been asking that question more often as I’ve been recording Christmas music this week for ACS (our theme this year is “Christmas In July”). It’s odd playing my guitar in 90° weather and singing Silent Night. So when I ask “what day is it?” I feel like Ebenezer Scrooge at the end of A Christmas Carol, when he is genuinely confused about whether it is Christmas day or not.
But that got me thinking some more about A Christmas Carol. And this may be a controversial statement, but I believe the Muppet version to be the definitive film interpretation of that story. Michael Caine deserved an Oscar. Especially at the end of his encounter with the Ghost of Christmas Future, when he emotionally says “I will honor Christmas, and try to keep it all the year!” He learns over the course of that journey that he is not beyond hope, and to respond to the Grace extended to him with generosity and love.
So what day is it? Who knows! But it might as well be Christmas. So “hold [him] close in a thankful heart.”
