By Amy Butler
This time of year especially, I wish that gift-giving in our society happened a little differently than it does. The giving of gifts is forced into excessive displays concentrated in short periods of time every once in awhile (like, right now), and this I find, frankly, exhausting.
The acquiring, giving and receiving of gifts might be more fun if the process came naturally: you see something, you think of someone, you give a meaningful gift for no reason other than the thought — whether it’s the last week of December or not.
Most everyone disagrees — at least that’s how the commercials on TV make it sound — so I find myself (along with everybody else) making lists, wracking my brain for ideas and trying desperately to remember that idea mentioned in passing, the one I promised myself I would not forget.
Would that I had the courage to buck the crazed Christmas system, but I doubt my children would appreciate my lofty ideals.
In the middle of my ideological angst over gift-giving these past few weeks, I had the unusual and (truly) grace-filled experience of an intersection of ideals. That is, a moment when required gift acquisition and the perfect thing for the perfect person happen at the same time. I found THE perfect gift for someone on my list.
I exulted in finding it. I waited with excitement for the Amazon.com box to arrive. I checked out the gift in person just to make sure it was as great as I had hoped. I wrapped it with care and placed it under the tree.
Now, I wait with anticipation for the opening of this gift. I can’t wait to see if she likes it as much as I think she will. I hope she’ll love it so much that her face lights up and she’ll want to post her windfall on Facebook so all her friends will know.
As I sat wrapping that perfect gift the other night, I got to thinking about Advent, this time of waiting for a gift. Not the gifts under the tree, but God’s gift of Jesus. Really, he’s the perfect gift for us, don’t you think?
We really needed a God with skin on, some way of knowing that God experientially understands what it means to be human like we are.
We desperately hoped for reconciliation with God, a connection to something bigger than ourselves, a relationship with our creator.
And we wished, more than anything, for a way to live our lives as agents of justice, wholeness, and peace, an example to follow as we stumble around this weary world trying to imagine God’s kingdom coming to be right here and now.
Do you think God gets as much joy out of giving the perfect gift as we do? During Advent does God wait with excitement, too, for us to discover again that we have been given the perfect gift for us?
I hope so.
I hope Advent is a time of anticipation for God, a hoping beyond hope that we will receive the perfect gift, try it on for size, and post our good fortune on Facebook right that very minute. Because this divine gift truly is an intersection of ideals. We’re expecting something this Christmas, and God has found for us the perfect, most wonderful gift.
I think God must be waiting with anticipation, too, and I’ll bet God just cannot wait to see our faces on Christmas morning.
Blessed Christmas, everyone.