Ms. Scrooge (1997 TV Movie)

Michael Beach: Reverend Luke

Quotes 

• Reverend Luke : [Luke's sermon, while Christmas Present and Ebenita look on invisibly]  ... Thank you very much. You know, when we sing together, we ARE together. Right? Singing is the secret language of the soul, and I just want to say "Thank You, Lord, for the gift of song - and for all the many other gifts that we give each other!" Christmas is all about giving, and sharing, and helping each other... isn't it? I know we've already heard lots of stories about that, but I've got one more for you this morning, which I'll bet you HAVEN'T heard already. That's because it's not one of those true-life stories; THIS story is from the so-called other side. It's about the difference between Heaven and Hell... a difference which isn't so great as most of us believe it is.

  [pause] 

  Reverend Luke : These two fellows get together one day to compare notes. One of them is from Heaven; the other one's from Hell. The man from Heaven asks what it's REALLY like down there.

  [pause] 

  Reverend Luke : "Well," the man from Hell says, "It's terrible. We all get really hungry feeding the furnaces. Then they sit us down at these big banquet tables, piled high with all kinds of wonderful food. Then the Devil comes out and he says, 'All you can eat! Help yourselves - seconds; thirds, even! Just one rule: You gotta be polite down here, and use your forks; no grabbing food in Hell.'

  [pause] 

  Reverend Luke : "So there we are, all ready to dig in and eat some of that wonderful food. So we reach down to pick up our forks - and every one of those forks has a handle on it three feet long! There's no way in the world we can get that food in our mouths! So the Devil just stands there laughing at us every single night; I tell you, it is *torture*!"

  [pause] 

  Reverend Luke : "Well," the man from Heaven says, "We've got big tables of food like that in Heaven, too. And our forks have the same long handles; no way we can feed ourselves, either. Since we've got exactly the same problem, we all sit down and feed each other."

  [pause] 

  Reverend Luke : THEY FEED EACH OTHER. What an amazing idea; what an incredible thing to do! That makes the whole difference between feast and famine, between happiness and torture!

  [pause] 

  Reverend Luke : So how come nobody down in Hell thought of that? Well not one soul in Hell thought of that, because that isn't the way they think. That's why they're down there in the first place; the idea never occurred to them, to do anything for anybody else.

  [pause] 

  Reverend Luke : THAT'S the real pain of living in Hell: the curse which they laid upon themselves while they walked the earth.

• Reverend Luke : Bob Crachit's little boy is dying.

  Ms. Ebenita Scrooge : How I conduct my business is no concern of yours.

  Reverend Luke : Your soul is my concern, and the Cratchit family is my concern. They are members of my church.

  Ms. Ebenita Scrooge : People die, nephew. I'll die, you'll die, life goes on. The amount of work that has to be done here still remains. Bob Cratchit can't do it, I have to find someone who can.

  Reverend Luke : And the man's grief? His family's loss? That means nothing to you?

  Ms. Ebenita Scrooge : I have my own grief.

  Reverend Luke : You think you don't owe anything to anybody else? You think that you're the only one responsible for your wealth?

  Ms. Ebenita Scrooge : I have earned every single thing I have. Nobody gave me anything.

  Reverend Luke : What about Grandma Clara, who cleaned all of those houses so you could go to school?

  Ms. Ebenita Scrooge : It was her choice. She said she wanted the best for me.

  Reverend Luke : And Libba and Bob only want the best for their child.

  Ms. Ebenita Scrooge : Get out of my office. Get out, I said.

  Reverend Luke : Don't you realize that you have climbed to the top of your pile of gold on the backs of Cratchit and Edna and Annie...

  Ms. Ebenita Scrooge : Get out! I said, get out!