It's that time of year again... Time to get into the spirit of the season (pun intended), by reading Dickens' immortal A Christmas Carol.
You can't resist the opening paragraph:
MARLEY was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
And the ending's enough to bring a tear to your eye, no matter how cynical you are:
He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!
So, get yourself over to Project Gutenberg, and download A Christmas Carol in the format of your choice. (It's free.)
Read it yourself, or read it aloud to anyone who'll listen; if you have kids, read it to them at bedtime. Make it a family tradition to read this classic aloud each year.
By Christmas day, you'll join Tiny Tim and say, with joy in your heart: God bless Us, Every One!
