I know...you are probably thinking that this will be a quote from the time honored Dickens classic -- A Christmas Carol. But it is not. This is from a little known book by Dickens entitled "The Life of Our Lord." We are reading it for our book club this month. I love the background story of this book -- it was a short story written by Dickens for his own children. He asked that it never be copied, published (or even taken out of the house) during his life time. It was that personal to him. It wasn't until 50 years after his death when the last of Dicken's children had died that it was allowed to be published by his grandchildren.
It was called a "New Testament" for children. It basically tells the story of the life of Christ as a child could understand. I am enjoying it. It really wouldn't take more than an hour or two to read. Here are a few quotes I have loved so far:
"I am very anxious that you should know something about the History of Jesus Christ. For everybody ought to know about Him. No one ever lived who was so good, so kind, so gentle, and so sorry for all people who did wrong, or were in any way ill or miserable, as He was."
"Never be proud or unkind, my dears, to any poor man, woman, or child. If they are bad, think that they would have been better if they had had kind friends, and good homes, and had been better taught....And when people speak ill of the poor and miserable, think how Jesus Christ went among them, and taught them and thought them worthy of His care."
"...we must always forgive those who have done us any harm, when they come to us and say they are truly sorry for it. Even if they do not come and say so, we must still forgive them, and never hate them or he unkind to them, if we would hope that God will forgive us."
Nothing new or revolutionary in those quotes...just a reminder of the truths of "Goodwill toward men" that our Savior taught -- given in simple language that a child could understand.
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