The Message of Tiny Tim

The Christmas season begins earlier each year, with retail marketing and television movies. There was a time when Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, was the official first shopping day of the holiday season, but no more. Christmas trees and other decorations have begun howing up in recent years prior to Halloween. The Starz network began showing the Disney version of A Christmas Carol and Freeform is in the midst of the 25 days of Christmas where they continuosly air Christmas programming. Last year my grandchildren and I watched Elf at least 10 times.

There are probably 20 versions of A Christmas Carol on streaming services at this time from cartoons, to black and white, and silent versions that remain true to Charles Dickens tale practically word for word. This story of Hope and Redemption comes in adaptations that sometimes modernize and stray from the book but between now and New Year if you are a fan you can have your choice of at least one or more a day.

Most people focus on Ebeneezer Scrooge when they read or view a production of Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol. I always enjoy expounding upon Tiny Tim. I fell in love with him as a child while watching Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol. He was the youngest and smallest of Bob Cratchett's children. He rides into the story upon his father's shoulders after they returned from Church. Tim is crippled and uses crutches to get around because he cannot walk. Mr. Scrooge is viewing the Cratchett family incognito, complements of the ghost of Christmas present.

Bob is telling the family that his youngest son wanted the people in the church to notice that he was crippled, so they might on Christmas Day remember He who healed the blind and the lame. Tiny Tim's focus is to use his situation for the greater good and later the child is rewarded. There obviously is a bit of compassion deep within the stingy money-grubber because he asks about the future and fate of the crippled child. The ghost of Christmas present tells Ebeneezer Scrooge that if the future remains unaltered, there will be an empty stool and a crutch but no Tiny Tim, because the child will die.

After Scrooge has his visit from the ghost of Christmas yet to come, he has a rude awakening. He finds out that when he dies, no one cares and he is talked about as if he were the worst human being ever. The miser is so frightened that he promises to keep Christmas in his heart every day of the year and he does. He has the biggest turkey sent to the Cratchett household, and later makes a personal appearance himself.

Scrooge brings gifts for the entire family and promises Bob a well-deserved raise. It is implied that Tiny Tim received the medical treatment he needed and was able to walk. Little Tim Cratchett's plight reminds us that Christmas miracles are still possible. The cruelest man in town had a change of heart, his loyal employee received a raise and the family enjoyed the best holiday they could ever have imagined. A crippled child was able to walk and live a full life instead of dying young.

Each year at this time, many believe for miracles of healing and financial abundance, and Tiny Tim's tale encourages their faith for better days to come. Mr. Scrooge decided to use his money to look out for Bob Crachett and his family, who were the least among the people of that day. This is a message that can touch the heart any day of the year. In the beginning of A Christmas Carol, Scrooge said of the unfortunate that they should decrease the surplus population and die. His encounter with Tiny Tim motivated him to change his whole perspective.

If you enjoy partaking in the celebrations of the holiday season, be sure to check out the many versions of A Christmas Carol that will be shown during the next weeks. In addition to network and cable television, you can stream on Tubi, Holiday Classics, Disney Plus, Netflix, and Amazon. This timeless tale should warm even the coldest heart. Merry Christmas to all, and in the immortal words of Tiny Tim that were penned by Charles Dickens and first published on December 19, 1843:

GOD BLESS US EVERY ONE!!!!!!