The real gifts of Christmas

Christmas is about gifts. Always has been. But we all feel uncomfortable with the emphasis on materialism.  We admonish ourselves and those close to us to remember the true reason for the season, even when we have difficulty remembering it ourselves.

Let’s think about the real role of gifts in the Christmas story. Those gifts were wrapped in miracles, which is probably why we cannot find them at malls or stores or online. The first gift was of Spirit: Unconditional Love.

The next gift came from a Jewish teenager named Miriam, who was known to her family and friends as Mary. Her Christmas present was selflessness, the complete surrender of ego and will needed to bring Heaven down to earth.  The gifts of her fiancé, Joseph, were trust and faith. He trusted that Mary was not pregnant with another man’s child; he believed that there was a divine plan to get them through this mess.  The child brought forgiveness. Wholeness. Second chances. The angel’s gifts were tidings of comfort, joy and peace, that reassurance that there was nothing to fear, so rejoice.

The shepherd boy’s gifts were generosity; his favorite lamb for the baby’s birthday present. The innkeeper’s wife’s gifts were compassion and charity; a warm, dry, safe place for the homeless family to stay, her best coverlet to wrap the new mother and little one, a meal for Joseph, the donkey’s fresh hay. Three kings from the east traveled many hot, dusty miles following a bright star in search of royal birth. The sages divination foretold the coming of the King of Kings”, on their camels backs were treasures with which to honor his arrival.   But when they arrived in Bethlehem they found a newborn prince in a cow stall instead of a palace. The shocked Wise Men unwrapped gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but their Real gifts were wonder, acceptance and courage.  They offered wonder by surrendering logic, reason and common sense. Accepting the impossible, they suspended skeptism long enough to double cross King Herod, frantically searching for the child that would change the world.  With courage and at the risk of their own lives-the Wise Men helped the young family escape to a safe haven in Egypt.

Oh yes, Christmas is all about gifts. Nothing but gifts.  But such gifts.  Gifts tied with heartstrings. Gifts that surprise and delight. Gifts that transform the mundane into the miraculous. Gifts that nurture the soul of both the giver and the given.   Perfect gifts. Authentic gifts. The gifts of Spirit, a frightened teenage girl, her bewildered sweetheart, the Child, the angels, the shepherd boy, the Innkeepers wife. The gifts of the Magi.

Unconditional Love. Selflessness. Trust, Faith, Forgiveness. Wholeness. Second Chances, Comfort. Joy. Peace. Reassurance, Rejoicing. Generosity. Compassion, Charity. Wonder. Acceptance. Courage.

To give such gifts. To truly open our hearts to receive such gifts gratefully.  
~excerpts from Simple Abundance, the Daybook of Comfort and Joy

December 2013 was a special Christmas at our home in Salt Lake City, Utah.
  We knew we were going on a mission, but our children did not yet know.  We held it in our hearts and cherished our last Christmas together for a few years. Our nativity play was very special to us. We finally had grandchildren to participate and a new little baby, Zachary Braden Dunn, born 11/12/13 to be our baby Jesus.

This was not just any baby Jesus. Zach had been born with Treacher Collins Syndrome, which affects the development of his cranial facial bones. He has very small ear canals, air passages and was lacking some of his facial bone structure.

It was extra special having this extra special child as our baby Jesus. He reminds us that the Savior of the world did die for us. He is there to help us through our earthly journey and brings perspective to everything that happens to us  We felt his love in such abundance this past holiday season with our family.

In honor of little Zach, we made a Christmas video and the song that accompanies the video is pretty amazing. It is titled "Merry Christmas Baby Zachary" by John Denver. This is a hidden treasure that my friend, Joanie Daily brought to my attention.  We found this video a great way to remember the real reason for the season.

Video link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MeQsARMNas

This is little Zach 8 months later during a Face Timing session. He is our best most interested grandchild when we call.  He is thriving and has survived his first (of many) major facial surgeries already.



Since we have many more adults than children, we also made our own script for our nativity borrowed from the script shared above about gifts. It was a wonderful way for our family to celebrate Christ's birth.

  Christmas Eve 2013

Nativity:

Zach~Baby Jesus, Maddie~Mary, Taggart~Joseph

Wisemen~Jeff, Brady, Chase: Angels, Whitney, Mindy, Emi

Shepherds~Mike and Linda: Lamb~Kona!

Michael: Luke 2 reading while we get our costumes prepared.

Linda:  “Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents” This was said by Jo March in the book Little Women.  Jo’s right. She was grumbling about not having any money for presents in this classic book.

Christmas is about gifts. Always has been. But we all feel uncomfortable with the emphasis on gimme, gimme, gimme…. buy buy. buy, charge, charge, charge.. We admonish ourselves and those close to us to remember the true reason for the season, even when we have difficulty remembering it ourselves.

Jeff:

Tonight let’s think about the Real role of gifts in the Christmas story. Those gifts were wrapped in miracles, which is probably why we cannot find them at malls or in mail order catalogs.

The first gift was of Spirit: Unconditional Love

Whitney:

The next gift came from a Jewish teenager named Miriam, who was known to her family and friends as Mary. Her Christmas present was selflessness, the complete surrender of ego and will needed to bring Heaven down to earth.  The gifts of her fiancé, Joseph, were trust and faith. He trusted that Mary was not pregnant with another man’s child; he believed that there was a divine plan to get them through this mess.

Brady:

The child brought forgiveness. Wholeness. Second chances.

Mindy:

The angel’s gifts were tidings of comfort, joy and peace, that reassurance that there was nothing to fear, so rejoice.

Mike:

The shepherd boy’s gifts were generosity; his favorite lamb for the baby’s birthday present (point to Kona).

Emi: 

The innkeeper’s wife’s gifts were compassion and charity; a warm, dry, safe place for the homeless family to stay, her best coverlet to wrap the new mother and little one, a meal for Joseph, the donkey’s fresh hay.

Chase:

Three kings from the east traveled many hot, dusty miles following a bright star in search of royal birth. The sages divination foretold the coming of the King of Kings”, on their camels backs were treasures with which to honor his arrival.

Jeff:

But when they arrived in Bethlehem they found a newborn prince in a cow stall instead of a palace. The shocked Wise Men unwrapped gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but their Real gifts were wonder, acceptance and courage.

Brady:

They offered wonder by surrendering logic, reason and common sense. Accepting the impossible, they suspended skeptism long enough to double cross King Herod, frantically searching for the child that would change the world.

With courage and at the risk of their own lives-the Wise Men helped the young family escape to a safe haven in Egypt.

Whitney:

Oh yes, Christmas is all about gifts. Nothing but gifts.  But such gifts!!

Gifts tied with heartstrings. Gifts that surprise and delight. Gifts that transform the mundane into the miraculous. Gifts that nurture the soul of both the giver and the given.

Mindy:

Perfect gifts. Authentic gifts. The gifts of Spirit, a frightened teenage girl, her bewildered sweetheart, the Child, the angels, the shepherd boy, the Innkeepers wife. The gifts of the Magi.

Emi:

Unconditional Love. Selflessness. Trust, Faith.

Chase:

Forgiveness. Wholeness. Second Chances.

Brady:

Comfort. Joy. Peace. Reassurance.

Mindy:

Rejoicing. Generosity. Compassion.

Jeff:

Charity. Wonder. Acceptance. Courage.

Mike:

To give such gifts. To truly open our hearts to receive such gifts gratefully.  “Christmas just won’t be Christmas without any presents.”

Another way to open up our hearts to the gift of Christmas is to read and ponder "The Living Christ" document.

https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/36035_000_25_livingchrist.pdf

Share the Gift in this year's inspiration!

Share the Gift Link:
https://www.lds.org/youth/video/share-the-gift?lang=eng