Someone emailed a cartoon to me last Christmas season with a picture of three boys dressed as kings delivering gifts to the manger. The first two boys were carrying the gifts for gold and frankincense. However, the third boy was carrying a large box of disposable diapers. I’m sure that Mary would have really appreciated such a gift. While this was humorous, it also showed a great deal of love through a practical gift.
Christmas is that time of year when we intentionally take time to tell our families and friends how much they mean to us. We need this opportunity to express our feelings in a concrete way.
However, sometimes a gift may not be the best way since gifts are given with many motivations in mind. But for most of us there is more joy in giving than receiving. Hopefully, though, our love is not a narrow and exclusive thing. Christmas usually causes us to be more thoughtful about the needs of people we don't even know. It causes us to be more mindful of the needs of those less fortunate.
This reminds me of another story. A baby was left on the doorstep many years ago of a home in Georgetown, Pennsylvania. A widow was the head of that home. A widow with several children to look after. But she took in that baby and loved it like her own. In the evenings she would read great books to her children, and one of them, at least, developed a great taste for literature. Today that baby abandoned on a doorstep is one of America's most prolific writer, James Michener. His life is now a triumph of the unselfish love of that widowed mother.
Let us remember and give that type of love this season - because after all, Jesus is the reason for the season.
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5.44)
Monday, November 27, 2006
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