By the time you read this it will be Boxing Day. I still have no idea why it’s called that other than the common understanding that it’s the time to get rid of all your environmentally unfriendly coverings that hid so well the delights given to others.
Each year we try to make present-opening a carefully considered experience but usually it dissolves into a frenzied paper war. What’s worse is that once a present has been opened attention immediately shifts to what the next one might be.
Though families have different ways of giving gifts, it’s not uncommon for people to order what they want in advance. This makes sense I guess, especially if you don’t want to waste money. Yet there is something kind of sinister about the whole affair. We all know that Christmas is essentially a consumer experience these days. It’s not so much about giving as it is about buying and getting. I’m pretty sure there is little celebration of the gift giver as much as there is of the nature of the gift received.
Simple giving has made way for accumulation. Because we have a diminishing attention span, what thrills one moment is quickly replaced by something else. We need more to stay on top.
We might say that this is simply a cultural shift and there’s nothing harmful in it. However, I disagree. Gift giving is a connection between one person and another. The gift is an expression of companionship, love and grace. At Christmas all gifts are symbols of the spirit of family and friendship – symbols of what really holds us together. When we lose the capacity to celebrate the relationships expressed in gift giving we have lost something fundamental.
Too often we are wowed by big events and large gifts. They stand out because of their size. The television programme “Extreme Makeover Home Edition” is a first class example. Initially I was stunned by apparent generosity, but I soon realised that it was little more than an extravagant money making exercise for a television network that made a career out of celebrating human tragedy. Despite being happy for the assisted families, according to surveys done, most Americans who watch the programme remember only the size of the house, not the names of the people.
Despite what Mitre 10 Mega suggests, big is rarely good. Small however, is often amazing. In biology, mechanics and chemistry, the big thing is small – nano technology. What we can’t see is vastly more helpful than what can.
In the same way it’s the things we miss in life that are most significant. The small gifts that come daily are more potent than a couple of big ones yearly.
Each day I pray a prayer of thanks for my food, my shelter, each of my children, my wife and friends. They are all gifts of the best kind. Every present we give ought only be a symbol of the real gift we are to one another.
At Christmas Jesus is God’s gift to us - we are that significant. Have you thought about it?