“Marley was dead: to begin with… dead as a door-nail.” So begins the Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The success of the story of Ebenezer Scrooge depends on a very dead Jacob Marley in order to introduce the three ghosts of Christmas whose visits will give Scrooge the opportunity to shun the selfish, miserly path he treads. Likewise, the hope of a transformed husband in the Fischer household begins with a very dead John Fischer so that the new one can rise again, and so far, that death is not anything we can prove.

Indeed, the old John Fischer seems to be very much alive as evidenced by his propensity to:

Dig his heels in when confronted with joy, mirth and overall gladness;
Cringe at the expenditure of any funds for whatever reason;
Think of himself first and foremost and lovingly embrace any obstacle that renders him helpless;
Write and inspire anyone but himself;
Prefer smallness and the limited solutions fear presents to the openhearted solution-oriented magnanimous efforts created by following the path of faith, hope and love;
Refuse participation in the joy of giving, preferring to focus on the belief that there is nothing to give, when he knows that more comes from giving than holding back.

Yes, the old John Fischer is forging a long chain of selfishness and ingratitude. He built it link by link, yard by yard and it grows longer still whenever he refuses to step into the new John Fischer made possible by the Spirit of God. Here’s the truth (and it is true for you as much as it is true for me): the old John Fischer will always be doing these things. He will not now or ever get any better, only better at hiding the ugliness so he doesn’t have to look at it while making everyone around him miserable because they do.

The old way is comfortable. It’s easy. It is fraught with excuses, rationalizations and denials. But it is not mandatory. It is not all I have to work with. At all times, because of Christ, there is a choice. There is a new way. It is the way of the Spirit. It is always available to me by faith. However, it is not automatic. We have to shift gears. Like shedding a comfortable old coat, we have to step out of the old one and into the new by faith.

The roll of the past is to take a good look, as I have done here, at the person you are when, as the Bible puts it, you are “in the flesh,” and ask yourself, “Do I really want to be that person?” Then think of a time when you were “in the Spirit.” What were you like? Did you like that person? Do you remember how you got there? What did it take to step out of your old self? What did it feel like to be in the new? And then ask yourself: “What would that new person do in this situation?” The past is valuable in establishing a choice. Remember, the new guy is going to take some effort by the sheer fact that the old one takes nothing. Fortunately the Spirit takes over, but only when we are vulnerable. If you are feeling as comfortable as an old shoe, you are probably not in the Spirit. But more on that tomorrow when we look into the roll of the present.

One of the characteristics of my former self is denial and the tendency to give a false impression that everything is fine when it is most decidedly not. I can actually block out pain by forgetting and avoiding. Thus I have not kept you abreast on the shape of our home mortgage even though many of you have requested a report. Your incredible support this year has enabled us to still be here. We have successfully fended off the first attack, though we remain in foreclosure with the bank. Your continued gifts will increase our options. We are building a fund in our Catch account to enable us to negotiate from a point of strength.

And so as we come to the end of the year, we ask that you consider giving generously to The Catch that we might be able to continue in our home and position ourselves to implement some exciting new programs for 2013 in reaching a wider Internet audience. More about that in the next few days. I know this is a busy time as Christmas approaches, but we have some special things scheduled for next week; you won’t want to miss a Catch!

In the meantime, you will be visited by three video links in three emails. Expect the first today when the bell tolls one.