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
A
generous member, Michele Shaw, (pictured above) initiated a great idea (listed below) to the on-going postal strike in all of South Africa. In October I was planning a luncheon for local women I had met and thought it would be a great
way to help Michele launch the idea and have a focus group to give her
feedback. She brought this idea forward to the group and we discussed
it after lunch. Everyone gave suggestions and offered to help in a
variety of ways. This was the beginning.
Christmas Day: The boxes were loaded into a trailer and arrived in a Santa sleigh with 2 elves! It was a fun way to deliver and surprise our Elders!
