Music & the Spoken Word at the Charles Dickens Home in London

Charles Dickens is known for his many works of fiction, but none touch us as deeply as his story of Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. During the 2022 Christmas season, Lloyd Newel brought Music & the Spoken Word to London to celebrate the message of the special season.

At the height of his career, Dickens was the most famous person in the world—after Queen Victoria. He had been struggling to find a subject for a new book when the idea for A Christmas Carol came to him. He presented the idea for the book to his publishers, but they did not want it. Christmas had become a small occasion celebrated only by a holiday dinner, if celebrated at all. Dickens became so convinced of the importance of his story that he funded the publication himself. The publication was a great success, and the book is as popular today as it was over 179 years ago.

Dickens was involved in charities and social issues throughout his life. At the time he wrote A Christmas Carol, he was very concerned with impoverished children who turned to crime to survive. He and his wife, Catherine, gave large sums of money to orphanages. They promoted education for orphaned children and they brought many children from the orphanage to their home to train as servants. This training would enable the children to have a much higher quality of life as adults.

As we celebrate the birth of the Saviour during the Christmas season, we can remember the message of Dickens’ classic story as it teaches the impact of love and service that was best taught by Jesus Christ. Dickens caught the spirit of Christ’s teachings in the story of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Charles Dickens, through the voice of Scrooge, continues to urge us to honour the spirit of Christmas every day. Once Scrooge became converted to a Christlike life of service, he declared, “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”¹

Dickens concludes his story with this message about Scrooge, “And it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us!’’²