Monday, November 30, 2009
Gifts. Are we missing the point?
Christmas freaking rocks! It's the time of year where we celebrate Santa Dying on the cross for our sins... at least according to The Bookdocks... As christmas gets closer I've been getting asked, "What do you want for christmas?" Immediately my mind goes blank. Sure there's stuff I'd like, but nothing within a price range I actually expect someone to spend on anyone. Looking back the best gifts I've gotten, and the most memorable are things that I never specifically asked for. Every thanksgiving all the cousins on one side of my family would draw names and do a gift exchange, and on the paper with our name we would write down things we wanted to cost $50 or under, but I started to wonder... are we missing the point? So often people buy gifts and then feel insulted if they don't receive a gift in return, or don't receive a gift of equal value. And if the gift one receives is far cheaper than the value of a gift that person gives then they feel guilty. Why? According to Wikipedia, "A gift or a present is the transfer of something, without the need for compensation that is involved in trade. A gift is a voluntary act which does not require anything in return. Even though it involves possibly a social expectation of reciprocity, or a return in the form of prestige or power, a gift is meant to be free." There shouldn't be and type of guilt or selfishness associated in gift giving. So often I'm hearing people say things like, "well they only spent $X.XX on me for my b-day so that's all I'm spending on them." or christmas, or whatever. How did we get to that? A gift should be given in love, and purely for the desire to benefit the person the gift is being given to. It bothers me how selfishness has infected something that should be about love and unselfishness.
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Very true... I totally agree with you. That's why, in my family, we don't go all out for the traditional American idea of Christmas anymore. We make food, get each other one little thing, and that's it. The focus stays on Jesus... people would be surprised to find out that keeping it that way makes Christmas actually "merry" rather than a stress-fest. :-)
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