Today Ebeneezer Scrooge is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past. Last week we examined who Ebeneezer Scrooge had become; a miser, greedy, utterly alone, no charity in his heart. But one of the most important questions to ask, a question that Charles Dickens answers through the Ghost of Christmas Past, is "Why did Scrooge become what he became?" As we look at the reasons for Scrooge's development, we wake up to the reality that every one of us has been formed by our experiences and our choices up to this very moment; the good and the bad. Part of repentance according to our Lord through His Church is allowing God to illuminate for us our past. What pains and sufferings done to us by others of just from life itself have not yet been healed and restored by Christ? What choices that we have made that has brought damage to our conscience have remained far too long in our lives. Our unhealed pain, suffering, and poor decisions impact both who we are and our ability to freely live in healthy relationships with God and with others. Today is an examination of these things in hopes, I pray, that we would all find the healing work of Christ done in our lives.