“Somehow, not only for Christmas,

But all the year through,

The joy that you give to others,

Is the joy that comes back to you.

And the more you spend in blessing, the poor and lonely and sad,

The more of your heart’s possessing,

Returns to you glad.”

Recently I wrote about the power of being thankful and expressing the same to those with whom we come in contact. Interestingly, an article in the Reader’s Digest noted several scientific articles that corroborated this notion.

And most recently the Lexington Herald-Leader carried an article by Tara Parker-Pope that the giving of gifts had a similar beneficial effect on our attitude and socialization. Therefore, as we enter this Christmas season when gift giving is most prominent, let us examine different levels of gifts.

Perhaps the easiest gift to give is one which is purchased. Sometimes the recipient is pleased, sometimes not. One of the most difficult acts to pull off is to act like one is pleased when one is not. The sick smile cannot mask the obvious disappointment that leaks thru the eyes. There is something about the way the lips curl over the molars that is a dead giveaway.

Men tend to be more price conscious and practical in their gift giving contrasted with women who are more concerned about giving and receiving gifts with emotional significance, according to Margaret Rucker who participated in the study mentioned above.

She recounts the story of a man who climbed a tree to retrieve a robin’s egg that matched his girlfriend’s blue eyes. Women say, “Oh how romantic,” But men say, “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, and also what about the mama bird?”

But most agree that the best gifts are those that cost us something, not necessarily money but that which represents part of us. I recall reading “The Gift of the Magi” by O Henry. The story goes something like this: A very young couple in Austin , Texas , in the 1880s’ struggled to make ends meet, but were very much in love. Each had a prized possession: she, long and beautiful golden hair: he, a gold watch which had been handed down from his grandfather to his father to him. With only pennies available which she had frugally saved, she was determined to get her husband a Christmas gift which she knew would make him happy, a gold chain for his watch to replace a worn strap which was embarrassing to him when someone asked for the time of day. So, she finds one for $21.00 sells her hair for $20.00 and makes up the difference with pennies.

When he arrives home on Christmas Eve, she greets him with bobbed hair, gives him a mighty hug and holds out the gold chain. “Merry Christmas” she whispers. “Merry Christmas,” he gasps, and hands her a set of beautiful combs, made of pure tortoise shell with jeweled rims, which she had long admired and longed for in a Broadway window, a set which would have matched and enhanced her most prized possession. He had sold his watch to buy the combs for her!

Many of us can relate to this story when love was young, money was scarce, and providing the simplest of gifts required sacrifice, and we recall those years with inordinate fondness. But, even though this story tugs at our feelings, there is another kind of gift that trumps all of these mentioned; namely, the giving of a gift for which we expect nothing in return except the warm glow from giving.

Our minister mentioned it in his prayer today: Our church had adopted three needy families from a nearby school and the family resource center provided the names and ages of their children and members of our small church had purchased gifts for these children anonymously. He said that those who participated came bearing their gifts with buoyant strides and radiant smiles. Why? We were doing something for children without expecting anything in return—truly the greatest sense of giving.

Or is it? What if our minister had said, “We are going to adopt a family this Christmas and give them presents anonymously, and by the way, I need to tell you something further, the father is in prison for he killed your son.” Could we do it? Perhaps only God and the Amish, but we catch a fleeting glimpse of an oughtness, a higher level of giftness, a transcendent purpose beyond this veil of tears.

Merry Christmas, ALL!