As the season of Advent approaches, we prepare to celebrate
God’s generous gift to the world in the birth of Jesus.
We prepare by decorating homes, stringing
lights, and lighting candles against the darkness of longer nights. The light of the world is being born, and the
darkness of the world will not overcome it.
We prepare by planning meals, travel and visits, and
watching our favorite holiday movies (It’s
A Wonderful Life is just one of the annual movies to be watched at our
house this month).
We prepare by being generous: sending cards to family and
friends, making and buying gifts for loved ones, and giving money to the
numerous groups who work year round to give a hand to people who have had tough
breaks in life.
On All Saints Day this past year, I found myself thinking especially of my
maternal Grandmother, Donna Harper, who died in 1998. When I was growing up, I would often receive
two kinds of Christmas gifts from my grandparents. The first would be a toy I wanted, and the second would be a donation given in my
name to a cause that worked to alleviate poverty, or to promote justice and
conservation. The package I unwrapped would include
information about the people who would benefit, and a note of recognition.
At the time, you may guess that I paid more attention to the
toy than to the donation.
But today, I remember the donations, not the toys, that she and Grandpa
gave me. In these gifts, they also gave
me a moral compass, and this ingrained value: that we are responsible to each
other in this world. These were gifts to
remember.
