The Gift of Giving

Another Christmas has come and gone — but not entirely. Christmas only began on Christmas day. It continues for another eight days, or twelve days or forty days, depending on who’s doing the counting. For the next eight days at least, I will be wishing people a Merry Christmas. So… Merry Christmas!

This year, my favorite part of Advent, rightly or wrongly, was looking for gifts to give to my loved ones. As I’m getting older, I enjoy gift-giving much more than gift-receiving. What will put a smile on my loved one’s face? What will this person enjoy or that person use regularly? I know that I may get it wrong — sometimes it’s difficult to figure out what a person will really like or will truly find useful — but the trying is rather enjoyable. Looking for a gift to give another requires thinking about that other, about what makes the other happy, about what is good for the other. Isn’t that what real love is? Focusing on the good of the other. (So, therefore, a gift of very rich chocolates might not be the best gift for a person who derives much pleasure from chocolate but who also has a gallbladder condition. You know who you are. 🙂 )

I’m not saying that I was an altruistic giver this year, nor a shopper who sacrificed much for the good of the other. I tend to buy what I like as well as what other people like. All of this, however, is to say that giftgiving isn’t about handing over a wrapped present and seeing it get unwrapped. There’s thought behind each gift. There’s love and affection. There’s time set aside for a generous purpose. There’s desire for the other’s joy.

Choosing gifts to give to my family and friends ended a week before Christmas Day. And the gifts were all unwrapped by the end of Christmas Day. The gifts that I gave will wear out, be consumed, or even break apart, but the love and affection given with the gifts endure. The desire for my loved ones’ joy remains throughout the year.

The First Gift of Christmas

I imagine that God put a lot of thought into the first Christmas. What gift would come from the depths of God’s love for us? What would make us happy, what would truly be for our greatest good? From the beginning of time, God may have known that the Divine Word would be made flesh — that God would become one of His own creatures for the sake of their eternal joy. Infinite and Eternal God chose to give the gift of Himself. The presentation on that giftgiving day was subdued, to say the least, surrounded not by glittering trees and dancing nutcrackers, but by oxen belching and sheep defecating. The wrapping of God’s sublime gift to us, however, was wrapped in the most beautiful way possible: hidden in the secret sanctity of the Virgin’s womb. Like with our Christmas mornings, the unwrapping was a bit messy. But the joy was effervescent, radiant, filling the night sky with angel song and heavenly light.

The guests at the first Christmas party were ragtag and smelly. We often hear of what the Magi brought to the Christ child, but what did the shepherds bring? A lamb, many say. Maybe. What they most certainly brought, however, was wonder and awe. They simply came and made themselves present before the Lord, enraptured with joy. They told Mary and Joseph about the splendor of the angels and the wondrous message — sharing the gift of the good news. Then they returned to their normal life, but now glorifying and praising God for the sacred wonder of His gift.

These Christmas reflections stem from something that I have lately been pondering in my heart: the goodness of God. It is my desire to be more grateful as this year develops into 2024. It is my joyful hope to praise God more in my everyday life. And it is my solemn pledge to be more generous. To be generous is to give of myself, to give the very best of myself to the other. And so with the birth of Our Savior made new again this Christmas, I promise to give generously: to be more generous in my thoughts about others and my words to others; to be more generous in my time for others — and to be more generous with my patience and mercy.

Remembering the goodness of God and that all good gifts come from God, I will be able to be more grateful, more praising, and more generous. I will generously give thanks and glory to God — unafraid. Gratitude means that I will recognize the good that God has done in my life and trust Him. Trusting Him, I will give Him praise and glorify Him. Then I will experience the true joy and love that is the gift of giving.

© 2023 Christina Chase

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Feature Photo by Nina Mercado on Unsplash