As some of you may know from reading previous entries, I am not a huge fan of Christmas. It isn't that I'm a Scrooge or a Grinch. It's that I despise how something that was meant to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the ultimate gift" as been so distorted into a holiday that proliferates our nations consumerism (is that a word?) and teaches our children greed and self-entitlement. Because, let's be honest, even when our kids are horribly behaved all year long, we still lavish them with presents.
When I was a kid, we got a crapload of presents. We even still received "Santa" presents long after we'd learned that Santa was really mom and dad. We got crazy expensives stuff, like a go-cart, a water bed, an entertainment center, a curio cabinet, porcelain dolls and figurines, and a number of other things I can't recall. There was always something huge and expensive in the living room waiting for us on Christmas morning. There were always presents galore and scads of toys and games and gifts. Our stockings always overflowed with jewelry and make up and mittens and beanies and candy. As a kid, I really didn't understand the importance of giving, because we were upper-middle-class, and money wasn't an object. It wasn't that I was ungrateful, or that I felt I deserved the gifts. It wasn't about selfishness or self-entitlement. We simple asked, and usually we received the exact thing we asked for.
Looking back I wonder how Christmas didn't put mom and dad in debt for six months.
Of course, I grew up, and had to learn to live on a budget. Had to learn that I really didn't have to wear designer clothes or high-priced shoes. And I learned that life was not about receiving. Life isn't about what people give you or what you think you deserve. But life is about giving. And I learned that it's just as fun and exciting to carefully choose a gift for friends or family members and watch them open it. It's just as fun to see the excitement and thrill of getting a gift light up their faces and bring complete and total joy to their eyes. And I have found through the years that gift-giving is a love language of mine. I love doing special things for people...giving them things and blessing them. So, I always go overboard at Christmas for my family. I can't help it. It's one of my favorite ways to express love. However, I am a practical gift-giver. So, things kind of even themselves out. I won't go buy something that has limited use or that they'll be tired of in a month. And I don't believe in giving kids oodles and oodles of toys. I believe in a balance. Of course, they should get toys and games, but they should also receive practical gifts, such as new clothing and books and the like. Things that will last. Things they'll get your money's worth through the use. Because, to me, the importance doesn't rest in what the gift is, so much as the time and effort and thought and love put into the giving of that gift.
This year, budgets were tight, and I didn't get as much as I have in the past. I knew going in that I'd be lucky to have two or three tangible presents from my family members. I could have been upset about that. I could have been hurt that I'd saved and budgeted so that I could really give this year, and all i got in return was a couple of gift cards, some candy in my stocking that I'd paid for, and a new sleep set. But I wasn't hurt. I wasn't hurt because I know that what I received was given out of love. And even more importantly, I knew that. while it's fun and exciting to "get" it is so much more joyous to give.
Seeing my mom's gratitude for all the new ribbons and sewing material she got, or my little brothers excitement about their video games and new clothes, or my sister's happiness over the handmade wind chime, or my brother-in-law's thankfulness for the gun-cleaning kit, meant more to me than if I'd gotten a thousand dollars worth of gifts.
I am not usually a fan of churches putting cutesy sayings on their signs. I find most of them lame and corny, and I feel like we miss the mark by trying to make a fun rhyme to entice people to attend our services...or use it as an attempt to encourage. Don't get me wrong...if it ministers to someone that's great, but most of the time I shake my head and think, "that's ridiculous. no one would take that seriously." But I saw a church sign the other day that said this: "It's HIS birthday, but WE got the gift." And I thought to myself: How true.
Because of that sign, I feel challenged to always remember the GIFT that is the true meaning of Christmas. And more than that, I feel challenged to share that gift, because it isn't some finite thing. It's not like a shirt that will wear out. It's not a video game that will become obsolete in three years. It's not something that can be used up or consumed like chocolates or candy. It's not something that will perish, like flowers or plants or a pet. The gift He gave us through His birth, death, and resurrection is LIFE and LOVE. And this LIFE is never-ending. And this LOVE is eternal and unconditional.
So, I guess what I'm saying in all this is that if we must celebrate Christmas, then we MUST celebrate the GIFT of Christmas. And the GIFT of Christmas is not what Santa leaves that night, nor is it the receiving of gifts from friends and family. Rather, it is the GIFT of Jesus, of His Birth, Life, Ministry, Death, and Resurrection. Because Jesus is the only GIFT worth having. Without Him, all the toys and shoes and clothes and money in the world is just junk.
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