Every year I complain about the over-commercialization of Christmas, and every December I go out and buy lots and lots of stuff that nobody wants or needs.
We gather at my sister-in-law's house for Christmas celebrations, and after dinner the presents are opened. My in-laws are polite. They fake joy over the gifts I have bought them—the music CD that will be played once and put on a shelf; the kitchen gadget that will go into the back of a kitchen drawer.
And, in turn, I am good at faking amazement over the Christmas scarf I have received. I tell the gift-giver how beautiful it is and how warm it looks. Putting it to one side, I will quietly take it home and add it to my other six scarves.
Christmas night is always the same. When everyone else is in bed, I sit in the living room, alone. The lights on the decorated tree still twinkle as they have done all week, but on Christmas night I have such a feeling of emptiness. I know I should be happy but I am not. Why is that? Will next Christmas be any different? Not finding any answers, I turn off the lights and walk to bed in the dark.
But Christmas this year will be different, and I think an answer has been given to me by a little two-year-old girl I have never met. Last December my pastor gave his usual holiday sermon at the Christmas Eve service but ended it with a story about his granddaughter. Earlier that week she told her parents “we need to light a candle on a cupcake for Jesus' birthday.â€
I think that is a wonderful idea and I would like to add to it. On Christmas Day why don't we give birthday gifts to the baby Jesus? They wouldn't be gifts from a store but acts of generosity.
I could write on a slip of paper that I will keep clear the sidewalk of my 86-year-old next-door neighbor. A daughter could write that she will help her little brother with his math homework. The possibilities for everyday acts of generosity are endless.
And each one could be written down, shared with family or placed in an envelope, and given as a gift to the baby whose birth we celebrate every year.
This Christmas I want a tree in the living room with gifts under it, as always. But in the kitchen I would like to see a cupcake with a candle on it. My family will gather together to light the candle, we will wish Jesus a happy birthday, and I will offer a simple gift of kindness as a way of saying, “Thanks for coming.â€
By Dodd Brown
Join us for the third Advent service
this Wednesday at 6:00 PM in the Chapel.
For more, visit spucc.org
