WASHINGTON — Thousands of congregants filled the pews for Christmas services at Washington’s National Cathedral Friday.
The Very Rev. Gary Hall delivered the sermon, and referenced Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” Hall said the miser Ebeneezer Scrooge had given himself over to his work and become completely devoid of compassion. He noted how Scrooge derided Christmas celebrations and dismissed donating to the poor.
In the story, Hall says, Scrooge complains that he’s supported prisons and workhouses and says “those who are badly off must go there!” Hall told the crowd gathered for Christmas services in the nation’s capital, “He sounds like a good many of the 47 people now running for the President of the United States.”
In the end, Hall said, Scrooge is redeemed, and goes from being — in Hall’s words — “a miserly, single-minded obsessive workaholic old crank” to a joyful, open, generous soul.
“If we’re looking for a way to live this Christmas, we can ask for no better model than the truly alive, truly open, truly compassionate, truly loving Ebeneezer Scrooge,” he said. “It is a wonderful life. Merry Christmas, and amen.”
