In Charles Dickens’ classic, A Christmas Carol, Ebeneezer Scrooge visits the Cratchit family with the Second Spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present. Bob Cratchit and his son, Tiny Tim, have just returned from church on Christmas Day, and Mrs. Cratchit asks, “And how did little Tim behave?” “‘As good as gold,’ said Bob, ‘and better. Somehow, he gets thoughtful, sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day who made lame beggars walk and blind men see.’”

To borrow from Tiny Tim, as we think about the children and adults murdered in Newtown, CT last week, it would be good to remember upon Christmas Day the Savior who was born to raise the dead and swallow up death in victory.