Who would be my own personal Jacob Marley? Who would be the Harbinger of the visitations to come? Would I treat that one as Scrooge his own Herald at first? Or would I be comforted seeing a Specter of the past, knowing that the mere presence of this person confirms one of the largest question marks of any human life, that of what lies beyond our mortal coil?

Spirits, you know better than anyone the questions I ask of myself in the dark, you know the longings and the eternal itch that will not be satisfied by mere platitudes. What things can I do that are truly lasting? Or is that even the right question to ask?

O, Ghost of Christmas Past, what form would you take and where would we visit? What wounds would you explore? I’m neither ignorant of the sins I’ve committed, nor the ones committed against me, and I know that I am prone to biases and twists of the truth based on my own ego-invested points of view. So, which dark recesses of my heart and mind would you probe and bring into the light? How would you draw back the veil and reveal the unvarnished truth of the life I’ve lived so far? What sins have I committed against my fellow man that I’ve hardened my heart about? What damage have I wrought? Which wounds inflicted upon me would you choose to bring into the healing light?

And you, Ghost of Christmas Present, where would we go and who would you show me? Would I recognize you for the Goodness that you represent? In to whose homes would we visit to witness, in real time, the impact I have on people? What would they say in the safety of their homes and others? Would we see people I am currently connected to, or people from my past who I’ve impacted positively or negatively when our paths crossed?

Dear Ghost of Christmas Future, I know I am mortal and I reflect upon this fact with regularity. Where is my grave? Was my death noble, raging against the dying of the light? Or did it pass pathetically without so much as a whimper? Show me, O Death, the impact my passing had on those I’ve known and loved. Show me friends, family, allies and enemies. What things are within my power to do, but if my life was left unchanged, I would woefully miss? This is part of the Hell I fear: to see my life unrealized; potential not capitalized on.

I know that in a prior life I’ve spoken about my love of the Dickens tale, A Christmas Carol, but I do not recall my mentioning it here on In Pursuit Of.

Anyways, it is by far, my favorite story, especially around Christmas time. There are so many different tellings, retellings and “original takes” on this classic and to me, many iss the mark. Maybe it is a lack of emotional content, maybe it just seems like everyone from the production company on down is going through the motions, I don’t know.

As a kid I watched, “Scrooge” often. I was one of those kids who watched Christmas stuff in the off months as well. This telling has always got to me, and it touches far beyond the nostalgia of a childhood removed by three decades or so. Despite having a musical touch, it is a brilliantly put together piece made in 1970 starring Albert Finney in the title role and Sir Alec Guinness as Marley. A lot of detail went into this almost two-hour-long production, down to the dirt under Albert Finney’s fingernails. Quite literally.

Anywho. It’s worth a watch. Now, on to my post, and yes as you can tell, it revolves around the tale and something I’ve been pondering lately. I watched the 3.5 hour version of, “A Christmas Carol” , starring Guy Pearce as Scrooge, it was an FX/BBC miniseries that came out recently. There were some shining moments, Andy Serkis portraying the Ghost of Christmas Past being one of them. It was intriguing, they dove really deep regarding Scrooge’s past. They explored his relationship to his father and sister more, and they took a separate angle on the damage he’d caused in the past with his pursuit of profit.

Anywho… I began to wonder the other day: Who would be my Marley? What would the Ghosts show me if I was visited this Christmas Eve? To what end and purpose would they be interested in with their visitation? Etc…. hence this post.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!