On Receiving Gifts

Just as a brief follow-up to my last post about gift-giving, there are a couple of things I really want to say.  First… I received some incredible gifts this year, many of the very non-tangible sort.  Having friends and family go out of their way to make sure that I could celebrate with them (despite no little difficulty) was a great experience; more than once it meant that theyhad to catch me when I fell, quite literally, or lend me their strength to make a difficult climb.  Some even traveled hours just to spend a little holiday time together, which was fantastic.  That kind of willingness to give, that kind of generosity, is the kind that doesn’t fit under a tree and is the kind that I think we need to see more of in the world. :)

Secondly, though, I got some incredible gifts of the kind that do fit under a tree (if you have one!). :D     It’s less than a month until my birthday, now, and I’m pretty sure that the stack of DVDs, books, and games that I acquired is enough that there won’t be anything left for birthday presents!  I’ll certainly still be busy with ’em all!  I’m excited about them in their own right (who wouldn’t be thrilled to own Hook on DVD?!), but I’m honestly elated by what they represent, too.  Several of these things I received are very difficult to find, and even the easier ones are meaningful because it means I know the gift giver wants to go out of his or her way to make me happy, to see me smile.

Gifts are like that, I think.  To the recipient, it shouldn’t matter that much what the gift is in actuality.  (The biblical story of the widow and her coins should teach us a  bit about that.)  Gifts are symbols, representations of the heart of the gift-giver — be it your aunt, your next door neighbor, your spouse, or even God Himself.  Whether it’s wrapped with a bow or imprinted on our very spirits, we should recognize gifts for what they are: statements of love (of whatever kind) and expressions of the gift-giver’s heart.