I started writing for the newspaper again and I submitted an article on giving as it was for the December 2017 edition. I posted a picture of my article in the paper on Facebook to show people what I was up to and they all said wanted to read it! So here it is... better late than never.
GIVING FROM THE HEART
December 2017
Before Thanksgiving Day had passed, fliers and ads were
filling up our mailboxes with holiday discounts and perks for the savvy
shopper. A jaunt through the neighbourhood revealed homes adorned with
Christmas lights and festive décor. Establishments and stores had likewise
switched to a wintery theme. During a visit to the Post Office I noticed a
postman bundled up against the cold wind, loading an open trailer with lots of boxes
taped up with Amazon labels. The season of gifts had begun.
We’ve been conditioned by our society to find our giving
spirit this time of year. We listen to the Christmas favourites, bake holiday
treats, and put up a pine tree, bringing back all those lovely Christmas things
reminiscent of our childhood. And yet, the wish to give gifts to our friends
and family is likely the strongest tide pulling us to spend a little extra
money this time of year.
While the commercial world makes gift giving a matter of
necessity, a true gift is a rare and beautiful thing. In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s
essay on gifts, he conveys, “Rings and other jewels are not gifts, but
apologies for gifts. The only gift is a portion of thyself. Thou must bleed for
me. Therefore the poet brings his poem; the shepherd, his lamb; the farmer,
corn; the miner, a gem; the sailor, coral and shells; the painter, his picture;
the girl, a handkerchief of her own sewing. This is right and pleasing, for it
restores society in so far to its primary basis, when a man’s biography is
conveyed in his gift, and every man’s wealth is an index of his merit. But it
is a cold, lifeless business when you go to the shops to buy me something which
does not represent your life and talent, but a goldsmith’s.”
Emerson was correct in saying, “He is a good man who can
receive a gift well.” We expect a lot in this season of gifts. We expect our
bank accounts to keep up with our level of generosity, our gifts to be accepted
with great appreciation and delight, and especially that we might receive the
very gifts we desire the most as well. 2 Corinthians 9:11 sums it up, “Every man according as he purposeth in his
heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a
cheerful giver.”
Truly, the best gift we can receive or share with anyone is
the gift of salvation. Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift
of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
My family used to make Christmas a really big deal. Under a
twinkling tree there would be piles of gifts. Eventually my parents became
disillusioned to the ways of the holiday season. While we don’t bring a tree
indoors or buy each other gifts, we still celebrate the joys of Christmas, and
focus on the gift of family and the many blessing we’ve received from the Lord.
I propose an idea that is difficult to accept amidst the
clamour of the commercial gift giving season: That your gifts be not out of
necessity because a friend or relative has given to you or expects a gift from
you, or because it’s a tradition that you’ve kept each year. Instead, that you’d
give when you are able to give out of the joy of blessing another. There is nothing wrong with a material gift.
After all, the magi’s gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh were material
things. Perhaps we cannot all afford to bestow such extravagant blessings but
let us remember that giving is not to be done because the season demands it but
rather because we’ve been blessed and therefore choose to bless others in
return.
James 1:17, “Every
good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father
of lights, with whom is no
variableness, neither
shadow of turning.”
