Heartwarming, introspective and timeless, we screened what is often described as the definitive version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, SCROOGE. This 1951 classic directed by Brian Desmond Hurst, starring Alistair Sim as Ebenzer Scrooge, demonstrates the transformative power of reviewing our own conduct over the years past. (AA, p. 69) We see a man who has cut himself off from his fellow beings undergo a searching and fearless moral inventory which results in a profound alteration in his reaction to life (AA, Appendix II, p. 567)
We are all familiar with the story of A Christmas Carol. Ebenzer Scrooge, a miserly grouch, is haunted by the ghost of his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley. Wearing the chains he forged in life, Marley screeches an ominous warning to Scrooge. As untreated addicts, whatever our drug of choice may be, we too are weighed down by the rattling chains of bondage, dragging our suffering from one relationship to the next. “We were having trouble with personal relationships, we couldn’t control our emotional natures, we were a prey to misery and depression.” (AA, p. 52) These bedevilments aptly describe our dear Scrooge prior to the visitation of the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future who “illuminate every twist of character, every dark cranny of the past.” (AA, p. 75)
In Scrooge’s searching and fearless moral inventory, we discover a young man open to the possibilities of life. He declares to his betrothed Alice, “I will be like this forever! Loving and kind.” He aligns with his generous employer Fezziwig defending the rights of local lenders. In fact, a youthful Scrooge possessed “moral and philosophical convictions galore, but he could not live up to them even though he would have liked to.” (AA, p. 62) Like many of us, Scrooge’s heart is hardened through a series of painful events. He begs the Spirit of Christmas Past not to show him the most difficult event; the death of his sister. Many addicts who work the steps are reluctant to complete Step Four because of the arduousness of acknowledging past events and how we lacked maturity and courage in the face of life’s great challenges. But it is precisely this act of reviewing our conduct over the years and admitting where we had been selfish, dishonest or inconsiderate, and how we have harmed others that allows us to grow into the people that God wants us to be.
Seeking a balm to his losses, Scrooge acquires what his fiancée Alice deems a “new golden idol”; his worship of money. We see a man in active addiction who seeks relief from resentments, fear and guilt by using his drug of choice. Money becomes Scrooge’s Higher Power. Subsequently he loses Alice, his morality and any semblance of a life worth living. The Spirit of Christmas Present asks him “DId you not cut yourself off from your fellow beings when you lost that love?” We hear it often said in the rooms that isolation and addiction go hand in hand. We cut ourselves off from our family and friends essentially because we want to use and because of the shame that we have subjected ourselves to “incomprehensible demoralization” (AA, p. 30). In completing Step Four, we come to learn that we set the ball rolling and that there is no one to blame for what occurred in our past, there is only an opportunity to humbly ask God to remove these defects of character. “Shadows of the things that have been, they are what they are, do not blame me.” says the Ghost of Christmas Past to Scrooge.
We can imagine our future if we continue on the trajectory of “self-will run riot” (AA, p. 62), essentially we are doomed. And so too is Scrooge. He is given a glimpse of his future in which his death is not mourned, but celebrated. He is mocked and insulted, his home pillaged and his goods sold on the underground market. He sees that Tiny Tim, the son of his employer Bob Cratchet, dies at a young age. These visions bring Scrooge to his knees exclaiming, “I am too old, I cannot change!” Many untreated addicts cling to the idea that they are too old, too sick, too traumatized, too special to change. Some call this “terminal uniqueness”, the idea that we have some special circumstances that will prevent us from attaining sobriety. Our supposed uniqueness becomes terminal, since to not recover – to drink, is to die. (AA, p. 66) In most cases recovery is dependent on humility and willingness to work all 12 steps. Scrooge is beaten into a state of reasonableness, and let’s face it – most of us are too, and then we really get to work!
Upon awakening on Christmas morning, Scrooge is delighted. He receives the Step Five Promises; “Once we have taken this step, withholding nothing, we are delighted.” (AA, p.75) Scrooge wastes no time, for he has been given the ultimate chance to change his fate, and so too have we. He promptly begins to make amends. “We subjected ourselves to a drastic self-appraisal. Now we go out to our fellows and repair the damage done in the past.” (AA, p. 76) Giving a raise to his employees, supplying the Christmas feast for the Cratchet family and restoring his relationship with nephew Fred, Scrooge is a changed man claiming “I don’t deserve to be so happy, I just can’t help it!” and so he begins to live “happy, joyous, and free.” (AA, p. 133). The film concludes with the phrase “Scrooge was better than his word, he became a good man, kept life well.” And we wish each of our members of the Recovery Movie Matinee Group that you may be better than your word, be good people and keep recovery well!