Ponderings about presents and giving

My mind is spinning around several serious thoughts at the moment.

Worldliness, "stuff", need, generosity, compassion, humility

the list can go on and on. The thoughts go on and on.

It all starts when the "Christmas lists" start coming out; I have to fight my personal inclination to see them as "gimme" lists. To me, gift giving should come from the heart of the giver and should not be directed by lists of wants. There is nothing wrong with asking someone what she would like for Christmas, but when lists spontaneously appear shortly after Thanksgiving, I get irritated.

It has been my tradition to ask for donations to be made in my name. It started many years ago when I asked for scholarships to be donated to a mission in South Africa. In subsequent years, the donations have gone for cancer research and to hospice.

This year we learned of a family in our church who were about to lose their home to foreclosure. God immediately put a figure in my head and I gave that with no questions asked. I wrote to the three kids who make donations in my name each year and asked them to send a donation to the church for this family. I know that the house has been saved for now, but I do not know what kind of Christmas the three young sons had. No doubt the biggest present of all this year is their home; but I doubt they had much "under the tree".

Today at a family gathering, tens of presents were taken into the house, most for a 22-month old little girl. When I saw the stacks of packages, I had to go into the bathroom and cry, because to my eyes and my heart, it is so unnecessary. My sister also told me that her grands had had a huge Christmas.

So now I am at home fighting a bad case of righteous indignation [Many, many years ago, I learned that I felt I had a just case for righteous indignation, I was completely wrong, and in fact I was sinning big time.]

It is time for a heavy dose of St. Matthew.
"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets to be honored by men. ... But when you give to the needy, so not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." ---Matthew 6: 1--4.

Actually, it doesn't take a big dose of Matthew to remind one to beware of showiness and "holier than thou" garbage.

I did what was right for me. I honored God's command to give, and I creatively asked others to also give. Here endeth the lesson. I am only in charge of my own life; I would hope that my standards of giving might be shared by others, but I have no right whatsoever to be angry when they do what is their habit of doing.

Although my giving was not done in secret, I think I handled it graciously. And that is where it must end.

today's lesson: The Lord loves a humble compassionate giver.