Gift Giving

Just watched today's installment of Dynamic Catholic's "Best Advent Ever."
At its ending there is a brief testimonial about gift giving, which, for many, is an important part of Christmas.
This reflection presented an idea that grabbed my attention and has led to this writing.
The speaker talked about gift giving in his family. He testified that in his family, when gifts are given at Christmas, this is done in a very special, and I might add, a very sacred way.
Before the gift is actually given, a brief testimony is given by the giver to the gifted. That testimony states what it is about the gifted that the giver loves and appreciates.
Gift giving is not just about making a list, heading to the mall, making a purchase, wrapping and then opening. It is about the rational behind the gift. It is about the gifted. It is about the relationship between the giver and the gifted.
What a powerful and potent notion this is!
Don't just give a gift. Do so while testifying to what is behind the gift. Testify to the place of the gifted in your life.
That is speaking to the true gift. It is declaring that, "I gift you because I see the gift that you are to me!"
That is about recognizing the true gifts in our life.
That is about decomercializing Christmas. Really!
That thought takes me back to my dad's last Christmas with us.
He had a gift for me. Well, he always had a gift for each of us, but somehow, this year this gift was special for me.
Before I opened it, he told me to read a note that accompanied the gift.
The note,  even though I no longer have it, I can remember it vividly in my mind.
It read, "Your mother wants you to have this. We made you a promise long ago and your mother reminded me that it is time to fulfill that promise."
It should be noted that mom had been gone now for seventeen years but that did not matter. Mom and dad had that something special and I can believe that she still had things to say to him and this was one of them.
You see, when I was a kid, one year for Christmas I really wanted an alb. That's the white garment worn for all sorts of ministries. At that time mom and dad told me honestly that they could not afford this "gift." They promised that one day they would give me my alb.
Now so many years later this parents' gift of love was right there in that box under those Christmas wrappings.
Time to fulfill that promise!
Dad did not know then. None of us knew.
This would be his final Christmas with us.
But on that Christmas, because mom had reminded him, dad was giving me this gift of love!
The promise of loving parents was being fulfilled.
So, this Christmas when you give that gift, before the gift is opened, take that moment. Speak those wondrous words. Tell the gifted one what they mean to you.
Tell them how they are gift to you.
It may be challenging and somewhat difficult. But it will also be so richly rewarding in so many ways.
Speak those gifting words!
What a Christmas this can be!

(Best Advent Ever!)