Luke 2:10
"And the angel said unto them, Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people"
I am also deeply grateful for those rare handwritten notes from individuals that have been written from their heart because they strike the cord of my heart and means more than any physical gift given to me.
On this day after Christmas, I'm at work feeling totally exhausted and looking really terrible. I am really looking forward to some time to rest and recharge. Gift giving is extremely emotional draining when we attempt to not only think of what is usable or appropriate, but importantly what to write on the card.
With age comes mellowing of character and a deeper introspective thoughts of what Christmas really means to me and how I like to celebrate it next year. As I review it all today, somehow, this year, there was so many gifts to give and to 'swap' gifts that I'm wondering if we have lost the cosyness of sharing our love in a deep and meaningful way and replaced it with getting gifts because the occasion dictates it.
Don't get me wrong, I love getting gifts! I'm grateful to be in a ministry where I have so many to give gifts to and receive from. I'm deeply convinced that on this designated day called Christmas is when we rejoice over the birth of Jesus because it signalled that Salvation for man is here through the infinite love and grace of God. However, I wondered to myself if the massive gift giving exchange exercise which transpired yesterday made many others felt left out. In the hustle and bustle of lugging gifts, I observed that there were many "left out" individuals who were barely receiving anything. Especially when we measure Christmas as how loved we are by the number of gifts we get, it can be very miserable for some, especially youths.
As I carry home my 2 bags of presents, and such thoughts were racing through my mind, I really wished that I should have spent a bit more time and money to get gifts for more out-of-clique individuals. I know that my close friends would not have minded if I got them cheaper gifts if they knew that my money was to get better gifts for the out-of-clique individuals. In fact, I also wished that I could have asked my rangers to not give me a gift, but instead transfer my gift for a designated individual which I would appoint to them. Afterall, when Jesus came to the world, He brought about good tidings of great joy to ALL.
Today, I feel that we haven't really done enough to echo this gospel truth of the birth of Christ. Our gift giving exercise yesterday seemed to have evolved into an overly inclusive friendship-gift-giving exercise that excludes and isolates others. Yes, the gifts which we gave is to express our love to our friends, but conversely it also covey the message that if you don't receive much or any gifts, you aren't very loved and appreciated. If this is how some felt, truely Christmas would be a lonely and miserable day.
In my life, I've been blessed when I received gifts from people I never expected because it meant that I am someone and this person knows of my existance. Likewise, I too truely believe that as we grow deeper in Christ, we need to bring joy of our Christmas celebrations to those not in our inner circle, where a thoughful surprise gift from us could mean so much to them.
For all that we sing and proclaim in our carolling: "Joy to the world, the Lord is come!". I aspire to make some changes in the way the love of Christmas is to be shared. Similiarly, I pray you will celebrate the love of Christmas differently and reach out to many others, come next year.
blessings,
M.
"As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. Rooted and builded up in him, and established in your faith, even as ye were taught, abounding in thanksgiving." (Colossians 2: 6)
