{"id":398,"date":"2007-07-05T18:25:00","date_gmt":"2007-07-06T01:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/breckenridge\/?p=398"},"modified":"2008-10-25T23:47:58","modified_gmt":"2008-10-26T06:47:58","slug":"infected-with-the-old-abbotsford-spirit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/?p=398","title":{"rendered":"Infected with the old Abbotsford spirit"},"content":{"rendered":"
Recently a favourite literary character came fondly to mind, Dickens\u2019s Scrooge from A Christmas Carol. Understand I am not referring to the Scrooge before that bit of toothpick set off the ghostly hallucinations that warped that admirable focused, hard-driving, successful businessman Scrooge into that wussy, goody two shoes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scrooge and his transformation came into my mind this week when I received a picture of a boy kneeling beside his bed praying with his dog beside him with his paws together appearing to pray as well. This picture was kind of \u201cthe straw that broke the camel\u2019s back\u201d. What kind twisted sicko of an individual have I become that people now send me pictures of newborns, cute babies, kids in dance recital costumes, kids and dogs praying?<\/span><\/p>\n

What kind of warped monster have I become that people send me these types of pictures? When did I slip over the line from a focused, self centered business person into Scrooge\u2019s delusional world of Marley\u2019s ghost \u201cMankind is My Business!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I need to get my focus off the ideals behind the parable of the Good Samaritan or the golden rule and get the spotlight back where it should be \u2013 ME. What have I got? What do I want? Obviously I need to join one of our large, profitable, money machine local churches and concentrate on what is important \u2013 the almighty dollar.<\/span><\/p>\n

None of this: \u201cthou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor and to the needy in thy land\u201d or \u201cBetter is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right\u201d or \u201cWhat shall it profit a man if he shall own the whole world and lose his own soul\u201d? Next thing you know it will be: \u201cA new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Live the golden rule of treating others as you want to be treated?<\/span><\/p>\n

BAH! HUMBUG!<\/span><\/p>\n

In Abbotsford it is all about ME! ME! ME! – after all \u201cHe who has the gold rules\u201d.
\n<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently a favourite literary character came fondly to mind, Dickens\u2019s Scrooge from A Christmas Carol. Understand I am not referring to the Scrooge before that bit of toothpick set off the ghostly hallucinations that warped that admirable focused, hard-driving, successful businessman Scrooge into that wussy, goody two shoes. Scrooge and his transformation came into my mind this week when I received a picture of a boy kneeling beside his bed praying with his dog beside him with his paws together appearing to pray as well. This picture was kind of \u201cthe straw that broke the camel\u2019s back\u201d. What kind twisted sicko of an individual have I become that people now send me pictures of newborns, cute babies, kids in dance recital costumes, kids and dogs praying? What kind of warped monster have I become that people send me these types of pictures? When did I slip over the line from a focused, self centered business person into Scrooge\u2019s delusional world of Marley\u2019s ghost \u201cMankind is My Business!\u201d I need to get my focus off the ideals behind the parable of the Good Samaritan or the golden rule and get the spotlight back where it should be \u2013 ME. What have I got? What do I want? Obviously I need to join one of our large, profitable, money machine local churches and concentrate on what is important \u2013 the almighty dollar. None of this: \u201cthou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor and to the needy in thy land\u201d or \u201cBetter is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right\u201d or \u201cWhat shall it profit a man if he shall own the whole world and lose his own soul\u201d? Next thing you know it will be: \u201cA new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another\u201d. Live the golden rule of treating others as you want to be treated? BAH! HUMBUG! In Abbotsford it is all about ME! ME! ME! – after all \u201cHe who has the gold rules\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hmmm"],"yoast_head":"\nInfected with the old Abbotsford spirit - James W. Breckenridge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/?p=398\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Infected with the old Abbotsford spirit - James W. Breckenridge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recently a favourite literary character came fondly to mind, Dickens\u2019s Scrooge from A Christmas Carol. Understand I am not referring to the Scrooge before that bit of toothpick set off the ghostly hallucinations that warped that admirable focused, hard-driving, successful businessman Scrooge into that wussy, goody two shoes. Scrooge and his transformation came into my mind this week when I received a picture of a boy kneeling beside his bed praying with his dog beside him with his paws together appearing to pray as well. This picture was kind of \u201cthe straw that broke the camel\u2019s back\u201d. What kind twisted sicko of an individual have I become that people now send me pictures of newborns, cute babies, kids in dance recital costumes, kids and dogs praying? What kind of warped monster have I become that people send me these types of pictures? When did I slip over the line from a focused, self centered business person into Scrooge\u2019s delusional world of Marley\u2019s ghost \u201cMankind is My Business!\u201d I need to get my focus off the ideals behind the parable of the Good Samaritan or the golden rule and get the spotlight back where it should be \u2013 ME. What have I got? What do I want? Obviously I need to join one of our large, profitable, money machine local churches and concentrate on what is important \u2013 the almighty dollar. None of this: \u201cthou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor and to the needy in thy land\u201d or \u201cBetter is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right\u201d or \u201cWhat shall it profit a man if he shall own the whole world and lose his own soul\u201d? Next thing you know it will be: \u201cA new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another\u201d. Live the golden rule of treating others as you want to be treated? BAH! HUMBUG! In Abbotsford it is all about ME! ME! ME! – after all \u201cHe who has the gold rules\u201d.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.jameswbreckenridge.ca\/?p=398\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"James W. Breckenridge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-07-06T01:25:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2008-10-26T06:47:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James W. Breckenridge\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James W. 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