Giving Gifts

A couple of Saturday’s ago I was in the city centre of Glasgow doing a bit of Christmas shopping. The streets and shops were packed with people jostling their way through shelf upon shelf of ‘ideal’ Christmas gifts.

Looking around I found people looked tired, or worried, or bored, and there were very few smiles amongst the cries of ‘that’ll dae fur …’

And yet the giving and receiving of gifts should be one of the most pleasant of human experiences. Thinking about the item that would please a friend or relative, going to a shop or two to find it, wrapping it up, and then seeing their face as they unwrap it.

Somehow with the 21st century Christmas people have lost the pleasure of giving.

Is it the financial pressure that does it? I suspect that’s the case for some people. Is it the sheer volume of gifts we feel obliged to buy? I imagine that’s the case as well. But it doesn’t have to be like that (no matter what the advertisers and retailers tell us!)

There is real joy in finding just one special gift for someone, and the joy doesn’t come from the size of the gift or the cost of it. The joy comes in the giving and receiving of it.

I’ve heard people say that commercialism has hijacked the real celebration of Christmas and that is true to a degree. But giving I think should still be an integral part of celebrating the Gift of God in Jesus. The challenge of the advent season is being able to find the genuine pleasure in giving and receiving.