Ghosts of Christmas Past

Front L to R: Scrooge, The Ghost of Christmas Past, and the Ghost of Christmas Future. In the back is the Ghost of Christmas Present.

 

I'm assuming for all of us, 2020 has been a rough, if not interesting year. For me it has had its ups and down. Here are some of the Ups:

 

1. The Mandalorian was renewed. (Yea!) 

2. I retired early. (Yea!)

3. I found my copy of Private Dodd (Yea!) 

 

Some of the Downs: 

1. Dropped a chocolate frosted, cream filled doughnut from Krispy Kreme and Danger Dog ate it.

2. Murder Hornets. Thank goodness for the the good ole' American praying mantis. 

3. Oh yeah, and Covid 19.

The big downer for me was that my NUMBER ONE Toy Soldier fan, my Mom, passed away. The same woman that said I could not purchase anymore toy soldiers when I was eleven, was the one that encouraged me the most in my hobby (critical thinking, leadership, manual dexterity, staying out of fights with my brothers, etc.). What was equally disheartening, was, since I was in a high risk job, I could not be there. Fortunately my brothers were able to be there when she passed away and be their for my Dad.

A recent photo of my mom; or as the grandchildren referred to her: Gramzilla!

 At Christmas time I would paint miniatures or tree decorations or pewter for her as her gift. She asked me, when I saw her in February before she died, that she wanted me to share some of her favorites on my blog. So that is what I am doing.

The Ghost of Christmas Past. I took some liberties with the painting as opposed to the description by Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol.  

 

My mom started out her professional career as a Physical Education Teacher (I wonder why all of her boys ran, wrestled, played baseball, etc.?) and then moved on to English Literature. I never knew anyone who knew so much about Dickens, Sherlock Holmes, and with the exception of Daughter-in-Law #1 (The Doctor), Shakespeare.

 

Scrooge then made bold to inquire what business brought it there. “Your welfare!” said the ghost. Scrooge expressed himself much obliged, but could not help thinking that a night of unbroken rest would have been more conducive to that end. The Spirit must have heard him thinking, for it said immediately: “Your reclamation, then. Take heed!” 

It was clothed in one simple deep green robe, or mantle, bordered with white fur. This garment hung so loosely upon the figure that its capacious breast was bare, as if disdaining to be warded or concealed by any artifice…. Its dark brown curls were long and free; free as its genial face, its sparkling eye, its open hand, its cheery voice, its unconstrained demeanor, and its joyful air.… “You have never seen the like of me before?” exclaimed the Spirit.

 

The Spirit pointed from the grave to him, and back again. “No, Spirit! Oh, no, no!” The finger was still there. “Spirit!” he cried, tight clutching at his robe, “hear me! I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse! Why show me this, if I am past all hope!” For the first time the hand appeared to shake.

If you never have read A Christmas Carol, please do. I recently re-read it for this posting and it is a beautiful story of redemption and sacrifice. Plus that Mr. Dickens could write!

This just shows that what the enemy meant for evil, God can turn it around for good! If He did it before, He can do it again.

If we look at what is happening around us with this pandemic, it has done nothing but spread fear, anxiety, restlessness, and hopelessness. Though it may look like darkness is all around, Christ's light will shine brighter in this time. We have the victory in Jesus' name. We can call upon the name of the Lord for healing. We can plea the blood of Jesus over our families, friends, our nation and the nations around the world affected by this virus. For there is power in the blood of Jesus; there is power in His name. I believe it, do you?

 

Next: More figures!