Gift Giving

If November can be said to be a month of Thanksgiving – December is a Season of Giving.  We begin preparing our lists and checking them twice (maybe we’ve been doing so already?) trying to figure out exactly what we’re going to give @SoandSo - -  (trying to determine what we can afford to give @SoandSo.) We are invested within this Season of Giving.

Think back on your years of gift giving:  What has been the best gift you’ve given? What giving opportunity have you experienced that brought forth the most joy, greatest amount of peace, evoked deepest sense of hope, and cultivated meaningful life?  Was it something that easily broke? Was it something that lost appeal with the draining of the batteries; was it a gift that lost its appeal as it lost its shine or an item that has survived in it’s original packaging and now awaits its place in a rummage sale? Probably not.

Most likely, the giving that stands out in your memory is that which held a lasting permanence by nature or symbolizes that permanence. The gift given may have been loved as the velveteen rabbit was loved.  It may have been an instrument they’re still playing 15 years later. Could it be a book whose pages and cover from years of use are tattered and warn?  Maybe you gave a gift that pushed the edge of creativity and imagination – that opened doors to insight and windows to possibilities.  Very likely the giving you remember is that which has journeyed with the recipient, becoming part of who they are.

The best gifts are those that enhance, add, build-up, open up, and/or allow for a fuller expression of who we are. And for this reason, the Season of Giving centers on God’s gift of Hope, Peace, Joy, Love, and Life all wrapped up in swaddling clothes lying in the manger. This gift of God in the Christ-child sets us (humankind) free from a past that in no way defines who we are. God’s giving stands us on firm foundation, even in the midst of the unsettled and opens to us a healing understanding of value and worth.

As you contemplate your gift-giving lists this year, I invite you to consider giving that which is lasting: a gift that uplifts human dignity and honor; that offers release and liberty into a world captivated by material acquisition.  And as you are busily checking your lists twice, consider how a gift of yourself might lend itself toward your 2012 new years resolutions. Those with whom you share yourself will be be most appreciative and thankful. 

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.