It was the best of times,Now as I look to our story, I see the cast unfold before me. The first character, the Doctor, my scoutmaster. Perhaps you remember him from a Field of Dreams At 17 he lied to enter service in WWII. After the war, he witnessed the devastation of Hiroshima, and dedicated his life to the service of others. He became a Doctor after the war, and served as a missionary for 40 years of his life, bringing medicine and hope to the third world, from the famine in Ethiopia, to the poverty in central America. Because of his military background, and 30 years of service, he was allowed to carry his mission into the most war torn regions in the world. His greatest sorrow, his prison, was his only son, after handing small pox vaccinations in Africa, the poverty was to great for him to bear, when he returned to the states, he took his own life. Yet doc, never wavered in his service or his faith.
it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom,
it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief,
it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of Light,
it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope,
it was the winter of despair,
we had everything before us,
we had nothing before us,
we were all going direct to Heaven,
we were all going direct the other way--
in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of
its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for
evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
In a tale of two cities Doctor Manette is imprisoned in the Bastille for 18 years. when he is released, he is stricken with madness. Upon release, he is taken in by his servant monsieur Defarge. His daughter is informed, and takes him back to England, where he resumes his practice as a physician, a man resepected both by the nobility, and by the revolution.
Now it is time for our next character. Charles Darnay is a French Aristocrat by birth. His character represents Pope Francis. As the story unfolds, his family patron runs down a child in the street, and kills him, he tosses the father a coin, and goes about his way. Outraged, Darnay gives up all land and title and moves to London. As the events unfold, he weds the doctors daughter, yet he is placed on trial as a traitor, first a French spy in London, then an aristocrat, and then at last for the sins of his father. In this we see the story of The Peoples Pope an advocate of Liberation Theology
Our next Character of importance is Lucy Manette, the daughter of the Doctor, and the wife of Darnay. We could say much of her in analogy, however in the most simple of terms, she is seen in the form of Mary. She is the central figure in the story, a symbol of purity that links our cast together. In the bible we see her cast as both The Blessed Virgin and alternately as The Penitent .
So now, our next character comes to life, perhaps the most interesting character of all, the one played by Phil Robertson, the part of Madame Defarge. When I assign this role, I realize it is controversial, after all, Defarge was a progressive. How could anyone mistake her for a bearded French conservative out of Louisiana on a reality show? I guess its time for a history lesson, from what to me is the most fascinating time in the modern world. The Reign of Terror.
As I stated, Madame Defarge is a progressive, or more technically, a Jacobin a group led by Maximilien Robespierre Now I do not doubt the intent of the revolutionary group. The French monarchy was corrupt, and it was brutal. Yet when it ended, the people had no plan, they cried for retribution. They created a reactionary traitors list, and condemned these people as enemies of the state. They were those, people who were other, they, those who betrayed the vision of the fathers of the revolution, and they deserved to die.
Now the final character appears, as the secret unravels. Sydney Carton, played in our retelling, by none other than Gollum . Sidney is the most disreputable of men. A drunkard, a self serving man, one who has simply given up. When darnay is first put on trial, he discovers the man who testifies against him is the French Spy, not Darnay, upon saying his true name, the spy drops his testimony. Afterwards, Darnay and carton both become friends, and both love Lucy.
After the revolution, the family servants of Darnay are placed on trial as enemies of the state. He returns to France to plead for them, he is placed on trial, for his noble birth. The Doctor, now his Father-in-law, a prisoner of the bastille, and hero of the people pleads for his life, because he gave up his titles. Darnay is released, and then jailed again, the dark secret is now revealed.
Many years ago, his uncle fell in love with a peasant girl. He kidnapped and raped her. They sent for a doctor, he heard her story, and then she dies. The doctor will not be bribed into silence, and so for 18 years he is placed in the Bastille. Upon release, he is placed into the care of the woman's sister, none other than Madame Defarge, who has sworn vengeance upon the family, including his son. She gives the doctors diary to the judge, which she has hidden these many years, and so the doctor condemns his son to death, by his own words, and he cannot stop this judgment.
It is now, that Carton acts, for he resembles his friend in appearance, and he loves Lucy, and her child as his own. The spy from the former trial, he now is a guard for the prison which holds Darnay. So it is, Carton finds him, and blackmails the man once more, to take him to his friend. There he changes clothes with the man, drugs him, and tells the spy to take him out, and that his secret will die with him. So Darnay is rescued, and like Gollum, Carton accepts the judgment of death in his stead. It is an act inspired by the very actions of Christ, however Carton is like Gollum, the most depraved of men. Yet he goes to his death with these immortal words.
I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss, and, in their struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats, through long years to come, I see the evil of this time and of the previous time of which this is the natural birth, gradually making expiation for itself and wearing out. . . .
I see that child who lay upon her bosom and who bore my name, a man winning his way up in that path of life which once was mine. I see him winning it so well, that my name is made illustrious there by the light of his. . . .
It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest I go to than I have ever known.
As I write this, the Holidays draw near yet again. As the culture war continues, with yet again the renewal of the War on Christmas, questions about the ethnicity of Santa dominate the headlines. Perhaps we should think back to the message from a Christmas Carol. The stories of Charles Dickens have stood the test of time because they touch a part of the human soul, a part as true today, as it was in his time. And it is though his stories, that we are challenged to question the true meaning of faith.
Many years ago, a friend asked me a question. It was the ultimate irony, a question my girlfriend was shocked to hear, it was disturbing. What if Satan came to earth in the form of Christ to deceive mankind? I asked this question to my scoutmaster, the doctor. This was his answer. If your faith is pure, and your intent is true, if your Love for God is real, if your faith in Christ gives you this foundation, then does it matter?
