It may seem odd to have a post on Christmas gifts in July, but posting it during an Advent season seems a bit late, since some people buy gifts throughout the year for Christmas and birthday presents.
We sometimes buy gifts out of obligation and buy trinkets to cross a name off our list. But what gifts have been meaningful and memorable? Why are we giving things that don't matter and we can't recall a year later? So let's hit the brakes on the gift-giving train. We don't have to keep up with the pace our culture is setting. We don't have to give the way our culture pressures us to give.
The world tries to conform us to its image. It wants as many people as possible on the consumerism train, even if it is driving people to debt and stripping the earth we are supposed to be stewarding. I considered bringing up fair trade gifts again, but since I've already discussed it here, here, here, here, here, and here, we'll skip the fair trade talk this year. Instead of rushing to the mall to blitz through our shopping list, let us consider ways we can give differently.
We can give of our time. Instead of just giving a coffee lover a gift card to a coffee shop, we can make appointments to go with them (or invite them over) for coffee. We aren't just giving them a gift of coffee, but time together as they drink it. We can give a gift of experience, and preferably join in the experience too. Instead of buying them solo tickets for the movie theater, we can again make an appointment to see their favorite movie together.
We can give things we made. We might have to spend time throughout the year making the gifts we want to give at Christmas. We might have smaller piles of presents, that were made with love and prayers, but they have meaning and value beyond the cost of materials, because they were made by someone we love. Let us stop considering how expensive a gift is and instead value a gift because someone made it for us.
Finally, we can give from our treasures. Instead of buying a new book for someone, we can give them our well-loved copy of it. We have a tradition in our culture of waiting until after a funeral to share our material possessions with friends and family members, but we could let go of things sooner than that. We could thoughtfully match things we own to people who would appreciate them now.
