On the second date of Christmas...

Did I mention that we love Christmas? Mary and I attended a great performance of A Christmas Carol yesterday. It has been years since I have seen or read this play and I was particularly impressed with it this year. Maybe it was the amazing performace by the actor playing Scrooge. Maybe it was the fact that I got to share the experience with Mary. Maybe it was just that I was touched by the correlation of the message in the play to the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

My favorite part of this story is when Scrooge is taken by the Spirit of Christmases to Come to the graveyard. Upon a grave with the headstone that he finds is his own he pleads, in anguish, with the spirit to know whether the visions he has been shown are those that will indeed come to pass or whether they are things that may come true if he does not change his ways. One of my favorite quotes from the play is when Scrooge proclaims,

"Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they shadows of things that May be, only? Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead. But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me!' The Spirit was immovable as ever.

So it is in our lives. What a blessing it is to have a testimony of the life, example and sacrifice of our Savior. How important a gift is that of His Atonement. No matter what mistakes we have made; No matter how far from the path we have strayed; He is always waiting with open arms to have us return to him, and because of his sacrifice we can be forgiven of those mistakes. The life we lead is the life we lead; if we are not where we want to be we have, with the help of Christ, the power to become who we want and need to become. Merry Christmas!