it's that time of year where everyone is buying and buying and they don't know why. stores are overcrowded and messy. shoppers are kinda stupid stopping in the middle of the isle stripping little Susy down to see if the pants are going to be long enough next year. driver's are all on the holiday version of road rage.... Seasons Greetings to you too, you no good Fudge Eating Santa's Helper!!!
i heard one complaint this year from a mom who said, "well, no one needs anything!" last year i was pretty sickened by the gifting and holiday glimmering and the smiling and the cheesy movies and the glib seasonal songs. i didn't ask for gifts but i received some incredibly thoughtful and lovely ones. a jane austen cookbook, flannery o'connor books, dickens books and journals, an everyday tea pot, red tea towels. simple gifts of things i love.
but this year, i want to buy gifts. i am a whirl of ideas for someone in particular, and can't wait to shop. and it's not about the buying or the gifts themselves. it's the excitement of giving. i love it. not the money part or the material part. it's the thoughtful part i love especially when it's about love. when i lived in amsterdam, i had to send home gifts to my family making sure the package arrived before Christmas day. it was my first one apart from them. and so i searched for something for each one of them that was special and that tied me to them, that i could tie significance to. and then i wrote a Christmas letter to go with each gift. for my sister, i found jewelry. in her note, i talked the beauty i saw in her. my brother was on a new journey and was learning much through tolkien's books; i found a journal bilbo style.
this year we have wisely budgeted, set limits. i think i could buy and buy, again not for material wealth. for generosity. in 1997 i went to adana, turkey to take an apology from Christians to Muslims on the 900th anniversary of the crusades. there in adana, our bellhop invited us generously to his house. we took up his offer and i cannot begin to tell you the feast we had. i have not seen more food at the wealthiest tables here in austin, and i've sat at a few. we could have eaten for days on what was provided that one single meal. it was overwhelming to the senses. it was generosity beyond any i had encountered anywhere. we ate and ate large portions of cheeses and yogurt and kebab and dolmas and olives and fresh vegetables and pide and fresh fig, tea and coffee and ayran ( i could go on....) then he took us to the beach for turkish dancing and soda and cookies. to use a coined phrase, it was a feast fit for a king. and it was just for six measly americans wanting to bridge hundreds of years of hurt, still learning about gratefulness.
a month after the bellboy roasted us, some other friends came through the town hoping to meet with him. he couldn't have them over; he had spent a month's salary on our single meal.
going way back to 1990, i was on a missions trip in mexico to a cardboard village, helping run a children's Bible program. at the end of the week, the same thing. the village spent a month's salary to feed our team, the best and most humbling meal i had ever feasted on. once again, a third world country out gives the wealthiest nation in the world.
to only be half as generous is something i strive for. the least of these gave more than i can ever comprehend.
freely you have received, freely give.
