Merry Commercialmas

You've seen the commercials, the announcer tells you that the advertizer has the perfect gift for that special someone in your life. The perfect gift turns out to be a brand-new luxury car, and the implication is that you really don't treat that other person as particularly special unless you buy them this car, and of course if you do you're a wonderful significant other for buying what your loved one REALLY wants.

Now, I know that there are people in this country who can afford to drop 30 or 40 thousand dollars on a car as a Christmas present. I doubt that there are enough such people to keep a car company in business, year after year. The rest of us would have to take money from savings, trade in an existing car, and/or finance such a purchase. I know that if I made such a financial decision without consulting my wife beforehand I'd end up sleeping in the shed outside.

I wonder sometimes if we've forgotten what this gift giving thing is all about. Did Melchior go into debt for a year to supply the gold in an effort to win the approval of the newborn King? Did Balthasar see an advertizement telling him that frankincense was the perfect give for that special Savior? Did Caspar buy Myrrh in an effort to make as good an impression as the other two Magi? Did they keep asking "Are we there yet?" as they followed the star to Bethlehem? I doubt it, I think the three Magi (or wise men, or kings if you prefer) brought their gifts as an offering of love, freely and cheerfully offered to the One whose devoted servants they were. The gifts were just a symbol of the love and devotion they felt. As in the wonderful story of the Little Drummer Boy if they had no gift that was worth money they could have offered the one gift that matters, the gift of themselves.

I have, in my jewelry box at home, a ring made of stainless steel. It belonged to my mother. She had it as long as I can remember. My father made it for her when he was unemployed and couldn't afford a present for her, he got a stainless steel nut, drilled it out to fit her finger, ground and filed it down, filed a design into it, and gave it to her as a present. Total monetary value, pennies. Total sentimental value, priceless. Remember this next time you go out shopping for people you don't like, spending money you don't have on gifts they won't like.