Christmas List
I often get asked what I want for Christmas. It is always a question I have an instant reply to, but rarely have a serious or tangible answer for. Without thinking, I blurt out the same statement each year. My family is most likely tired of hearing it. Although some specifics have come and gone, I ask the same basic four things each year.
My List:
- A hot cup of coffee
- A smile on everybody’s face
- A clone of myself
- A new foot (I have screws and arthritis in mine)
I’m a pretty simple guy, and rarely can find in the deep recesses of my mind something legitimate that someone could actually purchase for me. Each year however, things are always the same. Although I never really ask for anything, I look around and see the chaos that surrounds us this time of year. I try to stay out of the elbow-to-elbow crowds, and my attempt to avoid the hustle and bustle of traffic the week of Christmas, is seen by my purchase history from Amazon. I love having an UPS or Fedex drop-off. Anything I can do to steer clear of the frenzy of mindless consumers killing each other to finish their last minute purchases is a plus to me.
But isn’t it the truth? We as consumers run around trying to find that special something to buy for those we love, something that will brighten their eyes or put a spark of joy into their hearts. We go to great lengths to come up with the best idea, the most perfect thought, that special something that will make our gift stand out from all the rest. Admittingly, sometimes we try harder for our own satisfaction and glory rather than the joy it might bring to the one who actually receives our wrapped up package. I myself will even admit to buying something for someone that I liked, rather than what they liked.
How many of us can remember when Tickle Me Elmo was the hottest gift on the Christmas market? The year that Elmo came out, there was a rage and fury to be the one who would come home with him. It was clear crazy how huge the demand for the little furry fellow had become. People would do just about anything to get their hands on one, thinking that they would land that perfect moment with a child or spark that special place in their eyes with such a gift. Seriously though, how many people still have their Elmo to this day? Furthermore, does he still hold that magical touch of wonder in your eyes? Are you as the gift giver still remembered as the one who went to the furthest point of the galaxy to come home with one? Instead, you are probably not even remembered as the purchaser, and Elmo most likely has landed a lonely place in a town wide yard sale by now.
Material things simply don’t hold their glow and value this day and age. Truthfully, they never really did. It is a never-ending chase to try to satisfy that craving. You will spend all your energy and work yourself ragged in the attempt.
A scripture passage comes to thought as I ponder these thoughts.
Matthew 6:19-21
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
I’m not saying we should boycott presents. I’m not saying to avoid the American embrace of the whole gift giving thing. I love to make Christmas a big deal and love to have lots to pass around. I’m a huge fan of Christmas, the wonder of it, and the energy involved. I enjoy gift giving, and totally enjoy passing out what I have to other people. I wish I could give more.
What I am saying is this… don’t miss the chance to give a significant gift to someone just because it is not a tangible or purchasable one.
As I grow older it seems that my legitimate Christmas list seems to shrink. It’s funny how our wants change as we walk through life. No longer does one seem to “want” or “need” things based on a material absence or void in one’s life. Most of us just go out and grab a necessary item we need it. To be truthful, most of us use shopping as a pretty shallow expression anyway, and many of the people that our on our gift giving lists are not even people that we truly are deep in relationship with anyhow.
This leads me to the point of today’s blog post.
If I want anything this year for Christmas, I want those of you who read my blog and subscribe to it to do me a favor. I’m not a man of money. I have never been. I’m just not wired that way. I suppose that I will live and die in the same uninterested way of money as I am today. But what I do find great satisfaction in is this: the opportunity to help someone who is in need.
For this holiday season, I have written a special post for those of us who have lost a loved one. I will post it on Christmas Day. When the world rings the Christmas bells, and shouts joy to the entire world, there are some who would rather die in pain and be free from the grief that is consuming them. I am asking that those of you who know someone like this pass the invitation out to them to read the post I will send out on December 25. If you know someone who is hurting, and could pass on the word to someone in need, I would find great satisfaction and fulfillment this year.
This, is what I really want for Christmas. I want to help someone. I want to point someone to Jesus. I have a heavy burden to bring someone to the place where grief and healing meet. I want to be there for that special person who is feeling despair. I know where you are because I was once there also. Stay tuned for a special post if you are someone whose ears just perked up because of what I said. I know there are thousands of you out there.
For those of you who are not hurting, don’t forget that kindness, love, time, and genuine care, are things greatly needed in the world but not often passed out as presents. Make a special spot under the tree for one of these gifts this year, and be a blessing to someone else in a super, yet non-material way.
It will be the greatest thing ever handed out this year.
By Chuck Carr