Gift of the Magi
My parents took us out to dinner. This wasn’t unordinary. Though it had slowed quite a bit in recent months. I never really questioned why, I just assumed they were busy. We were sitting in the restaurant, and had ordered, and my dad asked us, “Have you ever heard the story of the Gift of the Magi?”
Obviously, being pretty young, none of us had, so we all shook our heads. He told us about the man and his watch, and the girl and her hair, and all the stuff that lead up to the ending. He asked us what we thought the moral of the story was. None of us had really good answers, so we just sat there, clueless.
He proceeded to tell us that there is a lot more to Christmas than getting gifts. He told us that being with people you love, and knowing you’re loved is important. He told us that sometimes, when life gets tough, the most important thing is knowing you’re surrounded by people who love you. He told us that, this Christmas wouldn’t be like other Christmases, because he had lost his job. He told us that we would have a meal, and be loved, and he, with tears in his eyes, told us that he hoped we still loved him.
We ate our meals and went home. Our tree was up and stockings were hung, and honestly I don’t remember feeling differently at that moment. I didn’t know what the weeks, months, or years were going to bring, which, I guess is why I carried on doing my own thing. I don’t remember much about how that Christmas went, I do remember sleeping in. I remember women from the school bringing us blankets and ‘necessities’ for our gifts, and I remember being really embarrassed about that. I remember a woman bringing dinner over, and I remember none of us liking it, because it wasn’t mom’s cooking.
After living out what God had in store for me and my family the next 10-15 years, I can say it wasn’t easy. I can say it’s hard to tell your friends you didn’t get anything. I can say, it’s nice to have friends who understood. I can say, even with all of our disfunction, it was nice to have a family.
What I wouldn’t give, to wake up this Christmas, with my wife and my daughter and head over to my mom’s house and listen to her scream frantically about how she’s been slaving all day to prepare a meal, to have Andrea taste my mom’s cooking. What I wouldn’t give to see Adrienne, my sister, who passed 8 years ago. or Matthew, who, up until he died 6 years ago, we spent EVERY Christmas together since I was 6.
It wasn’t until all of the loss in my life, or even until this very moment, in writing this out that I truely understood what my dad was saying that night at the restaurant.
Gifts are cool to get, and a really good excuse to get together. But love. Love is what makes it all worth it. The value of a gift is not the price tag. The value of a gift is as deep as the love of the person who gave it. The gift isn’t the object at all. The gift is the love. Christmas defies all logic. From the birth of a baby born of a virgin, to a disfunctional family establishing a love so deep that it hurts the very core of my being.
Do me a favor this year. Give love. I don’t care how you do it, but make sure everyone in your life knows they’re loved. There will be a Christmas where you will wish you could.
Merry Christmas ladies and gents.
