84. St. Augustine, Confessions, Bk. 1

This episode discusses Book 8 of St. Augustine's Confessions.

This episode discusses Book 7 of St. Augustine's Confessions.

This episode covers Book 6 of St. Augustine's Confessions.

This episode covers Book 5 of St. Augustine's Confessions.

This episode covers Book 4 of St. Augustine's Confessions.

This episode covers Book 3 of St. Augustine's Confessions.

This episode covers Book 2 of St. Augustine's Confessions.

This episode covers book 1 of St. Augustine's Confessions.

In this discussion I finish talking about Dickens'A Christmas Carol,by discussing Staves 4 and 5.The great gift Scrooge receives from the three ghosts is a awareness of the gift that had always already been given; this brings about a new life of gratitude in Scrooge. Life gets its full meaning only when one becomes grateful for what one has always already had - life itself. This is the meaning of the Christmas: the gift of Life Itself among us.

In Stave 3 of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, we find the ghost of Christmas Present, revealing to Scrooge the excessive abundance of the feast which is the present. I argue that it is gratitude that is the meaning of life, and hence the source of joy and happiness. The Crachit's feast is meager, but because the are grateful for it, it becomes more than they need and hence more than a meager feast, it becomes a great feast. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!