The Little Match Girl

The Little Match Girl is a book that one usually relates to winter and Christmas time. But Bryant was reading it on Sunday and it made me want to write something about it. This book was written long ago by Hans Christian Anderson and we have a lovely copy with beautiful artwork. I am not "in to" art, but I love this book and all of the artwork in it. Most people probably think of it as a sad a depressing book. Try to read it out loud without crying (impossible--just ask Emma). Alas, I love this book. I'll tell you why. In the book, a young girl who lives in poverty tries to sell matches to help with the family income. No one is buying and she cannot go home because she will be beaten for not selling them. She becomes so cold that she goes into a corner and strikes a match. She then has grand dreams of food, warmth, and the one person who has ever been kind to her, her late grandmother. Eventually, she strikes all of the matches because she does not want her vision of her grandmother to fade, and her grandmother comes and takes her to heaven leaving her frozen, tiny body behind.

This was published in 1845, and I think it is such a sensitive, loving, real look at poverty. I like it because it says that there is hope. There is so much poverty. Not as much in the US, but all around the world people die all the time because of poor living conditions, sickness, disease, malnutrition, and many reasons. How can we comprehend the meaning of it all? How is this possible? How is it fair? How do we make sense of it? What gives these little lives meaning? I think the story answers these questions by saying that even though this sweet little child only knew cruelty, cold, and misery, she would be saved and taken to heaven in the end, and encircled in the arms of love. I believe this as well. There is another life to heal these pour little ones that have to suffer while here on earth.

Another thing that is of interest in the book is that people only pay attention to her after she is dead. They discover her body and act like it shouldn't have happened, but surely these are the same people that passed her by when she was selling the matches without a second thought. I think their neglect is a reflection of how we do neglect suffering and pretend that it isn't happening until we can't ignore it and then tsk-tsk the fact that happened. It is a caution to us to watch for those in need, and take them seriously.

I've never tried to shield my children from the fact that death, poverty and suffering are a part of life. They comprehend it at a very basic level. When Bryant finished reading the book he was surprised that the little girl died, and he didn't say anything else about it. Cora also likes the book, and I've explained a simple version of what I've written here to her. I also let them watch the news with me (which I only watch on occasion) and they ask questions, and we just tell them that there are lots of good and bad things that happen. There are wars, tornadoes and everything in between. Life just happens, but we teach them that they can choose how they react to what happens to them, and that they need to have a relationship with God so that they can make good decisions and be guided as to what they need to do. And that most importantly, they don't need to fear. Good or bad, they seem to be compassionate and accepting of all kinds of people. It will be interesting to see how the future unfolds.