Earning Our Gifts
Did you look in the mirror and ask yourself if you were good enough for a new dress shirt and a pair of sox? It’s okay; be honest. Unless your name is Matt or Harvey and have been in the headlines these past few months, and earned a reputation as a naughty boy, you should be safe. They set the bar pretty low.
As for me, I’m confident that I cleared the hurdle for the right to ask for the shirt and sox bundle but fear I fell well short of the mark to be in the running for one of those few premium luxury automobiles; you know the one with a red bow on top. How do you view your year, by your perception of goodness and what you were able to accomplish, or where you fell short?
I’m a Santa denier; there I said it. There is something wrong with this whole picture. First, we need to prove that we were good, then we need to ask for a free gift. Finally, we are supposed to behave with grace and dignity if we receive a lump of coal. If there is some list of things that we must do to be eligible, are the gifts still free or did they cross the line over to earnings? Since when do gifts have strings?
Coal is a Choice
I don’t think that I’m going out on a limb when I say that it has been a challenging year for many of us and we may notfeel like pasting on a fake smile and celebrating with, much less shopping for, those who didn’t experience our same level of hurt or disappointment. In some small way we feel we need time to reflect on our discouragement and wallow in our self-pity. After all, isn’t it our prerogative to only consider our bounty and measure our goodness against others that we select. Isn’t it my choice to say, “I choose coal.”
What happened to the notion that gifts are freely given to those undeserving? Don’t we give of ourselves to those we care about out of something inside of us, not because of something others did for us? Santa has this whole thing wrong. It’s no wonder that the malls are full and wallets are empty.
I don’t think Christmas is intended to be about how we feel; blessed or burdened, flush or faltering. It’s supposed to be about receiving a gift, especially if it’s out of our pain and sorrow, that was freely given to we who are undeserving and indifferent to those in our sphere of influence to usher us into a place of peace and hope. The gifts we give are meant to be a representation, albeit a feeble reflection, of the gift or gifts that we have received but have neither earned nor deserved.
Ebenezer’s Beware
Are you a Scrooge? Did you race to the store and buy a bag of Kingsford to give as gifts to your family, co-workers and friends as your perception of their goodness? Do we risk crushing their Christmas spirit because we haven’t fully embraced what it means to be the vessel through which blessings and gifts flow?
Tis the season to give and to receive. Maybe this is the year that we focus on receiving the Gift that is waiting for us rather than being consumed with our idea of how much others deserve the gifts that we decided to freely give.
Rejoice, your Gift is waiting.
Ivy is still confused by the tree in the living room. She thinks we brought it inside to give her a place to bury her chew toys.
Merry Christmas to you and yours,
Al and his faithful, but overly possessive sidekick, Ivy the wonder pup.
P.S. Just to give you a quick update on my condition; I still have Parkinson’s and yes, Parkinson’s Still Sucks. That’s all I am going to say about that.