Christmas is near.
This is the last full week before the big day and I’m nearly
caught up with gift buying. I still need to buy for mom and dad. Last year I
got him a hand held massager. Companies started making nice ones a few years
ago. These plug in to charge. Gone are the days of the throw away battery (like
C and D) run devices that last just into the new year. How many foot baths and neck
massagers have gift givers tossed after a few weeks?
Everyone, at one time has fallen for a ‘sham wow’ knick
knack. Two years ago I got my mom one of those heating pods where you snap a
device the size of dime inside a gel infused bag. It looked impressive at the
fair. The demonstrator, speaking in I-can’t-believe-how-amazing tones, showed
the various uses for the magic device. I’m not a heating pad type of guy.
Unless I’m in the throes of a nasty flu, I’m not likely to tuck in under a big
comforter with an additional hot bag. But my mom loves the heating pods and
heating blankets. I’m sure she has a small space heater in her room as well.
My gift was the perfect complement to a permanently cold
body. But like all the other gifts it eventually collapsed, like a failed
business stock price shortly after its initial offering. But heating pods, like
foot massagers and neck rollers aren’t meant to solve a long term problem.
They’re meant to bulk up our pile under the tree and give us something to open,
use, and discard. They’re also new ideas when we really need something. Gift
cards are no one’s first or last choice. A gift card is better than a pair of
shoes that don’t fit or a biography about a person you don’t like (Hillary
Clinton).
But cards are also lazy. It’s like, “I couldn’t think of
anything so here’s my obligation”. Yes I know, I give them too. Some people
have everything they need and more that they don’t. And they’ll likely take
that ABBA greatest hits collection right back and spend the credit on an air
can cleaner for their laptop anyway. A gift card just makes sense most of the
time so why all the pressure? I guess it’s the hunt. That elusive, perfect gift
and the story behind how you found it, is what still motivates us to buy for
others. Sure it’s risky. But you gain hero status with a hard fought search for
an original copy of “Sharknado”.
It's not so much the gift, but how it proves your knowledge
of the giftee that is the real reward. In cases like this it’s the gifter that
is blessed. I looked for a new model die cast model car yesterday for a friend.
He’s a big fan of Ford Mustang cars and never misses a chance to point one out
on the road. After 5 stores I gave up. The gift had to be purchased that day.
No amount of 2-day shipping from a vendor in South Carolina would work. I did
find an embossed sign with “Mustang Ave” on it at Hobby Lobby. I picked up a
hat with the iconic logo embroidered on the crown for good measure. It was
hardly a search high and low type of gift, but I was pleased with my pick.
Hopefully he was too.
It’s better to give than to receive. We need reminders every
year.
Gifts and giving is only one part of Christmas anyway. The
big part is Christ, the reason we gather and celebrate. Does Christmas carry
the same weight as Easter in the holy day calendar? Does it even matter?
Both concern the Savior, His birth and resurrection. What’s
important to me is recognizing both days and letting the ornamentation blur
into the background like colored lights. Nothing is wrong with parties,
dinners, presents and pageants. Paul reminds us in Romans 14:5-6 “One person esteems
one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully
convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord;”
In other words, don’t get caught up in which festivals carry more importance or
which group has a greater claim on piety. The birth of Christ unites us, as
does His death and resurrection.
The presents we buy for each other represent something selfless
we do with our time and money. In a small way it’s an effort to be more like
Christ. It’s easy to get carried away with events and gifts and travel, but in
spite of the heavy consumerism of the holiday it’s still about Jesus.
The significance of the Savior of the World cannot be
overstated. No gift, given or received can match what God the Father offered to
us over 2000 years ago.
Merry Christmas!
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