What a wonderful time of the year!
When I hear the beautiful music, see the lights, and
feel the chill in the air, I'm transported back to the many
occasions throughout my life when the spirit of Christmas
has warmed my heart and lifted my soul.
Like many of you, I find that some of the warmest and most
vivid memories of Christmas come from my childhood.
Although I grew up in modest circumstances, my parents
wanted Christmas to be a time of joy and
wonder for their children.
They went to great lengths to make Christmas a special time
for our family.
We children made gifts for each other.
One year, I remember drawing a picture as a Christmas gift
for my sister.
It could not have been a work of art, but she treated it
like a treasure.
How I love her for that!
Another year my brother, who is 12 years older than I, gave
me a precious gift.
He had found a wooden stick in the park near our home and
carved from it a small toy knife.
It was simple, not fancy at all, but oh, how I cherished
that gift because it came from him!
Isn't one of the great joys of Christmas seeing the excited
faces of little children as they take in their hands a
wrapped gift that is just for them?
As we get older, however, our ability to receive gifts with
the same enthusiasm and grace seems to diminish.
Sometimes people even get to the point where they can't
receive a gift or, for that matter, even a compliment
without embarrassment or feelings of indebtedness.
They mistakenly think that the only acceptable way to respond
to receiving a gift is by giving back something of even
greater value.
Others simply fail to see the significance of a
gift--focusing only on its outward appearance or its
value and ignoring the deep meaning it has
to the sincere giver.
This reminds me of an event that took place during the
last night of the Savior's life.
He gathered His beloved disciples around Him, broke
bread with them, and gave them precious final instructions.
Do you remember that as the meal progressed, Jesus rose
from the table, put water into a basin, and began to wash His
disciples' feet?
When He came to Simon Peter, the fisherman refused, saying,
"Thou shalt never wash my feet." The Savior gently
corrected him: "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with
me." I'm sure Peter thought he had noble reasons for refusing
this gift and felt he was doing the right thing.
But at that moment he clearly did not understand the
spiritual significance of what Jesus was offering him.
At Christmastime we talk a lot about giving, and we know, we
all know, that "it is more blessed to give than to
receive," but I wonder if sometimes we disregard or even
disparage the importance of being a good receiver.
On a Christmas day many years ago, a young girl received a
beautiful beading kit.
The girl's father suggested that she make something for
one of her relatives who had assembled for a family party.
The girl's face lit up, and she went to work creating what
she thought would be a perfect gift.
She picked out the person she wanted to make it for--an
elderly aunt with an unhappy face and a harsh personality.
"Perhaps if I make her a bracelet," the little girl
thought, "it will make her happy." And so she carefully
selected each bead and did her very best to make this a
special gift for her aunt.
When she finally finished, she approached her aunt, handed
her the bracelet, and told her she had designed it and made
it just for her.
Silence descended on the room as the aunt picked up the
bracelet with her finger and thumb as though she were
holding a string of slimy snails.
She looked at the gift, squinted her eyes and
scrunched up her nose, and dropped the bracelet back into
the hands of the little girl.
She then turned away from her without saying one word and
began talking to someone else.
The little girl blushed with embarrassment.
With deep disappointment she quietly
walked out of the room.
Her parents attempted to console her.
They tried to help her understand that the bracelet
was beautiful--regardless of her
aunt's insensitive reaction.
But the little girl couldn't help feeling unhappy every
time she thought of this experience.
Decades have passed, and the little girl--now an aunt
herself--still remembers, with a bit of sadness, that day
when her childlike gift was refused.
Every gift that is offered to us--especially a gift that
comes from the heart--is an opportunity to build or
strengthen our bond of love.
When we're good and grateful receivers, we open a door to
deepen our relationship with the giver of this gift.
But when we fail to appreciate or even reject a gift, we not
only hurt those who extend themselves to us, but in some
way we harm ourselves as well.
The Savior taught that unless we "become as little children,
[we] shall not enter ... the kingdom of heaven." As we
watch the excitement and wonder of children at this
time of the year, perhaps we can remind ourselves to
rediscover and reclaim a precious and glorious
attribute of children--the ability to receive graciously
and with gratitude.
Not surprisingly, the Savior is our perfect example not
only of generous giving but also of gracious receiving.
When He was in Bethany, near the end of His mortal
ministry, a woman approached Him with an alabaster box of
rare and expensive oil.
She was allowed to anoint His head with this precious gift.
Some who witnessed this event became angry.
"What a waste of money," they said.
The oil was extremely expensive.
It could have been sold and the money given to the poor.
They saw only the temporal value of the gift and entirely
missed its much greater spiritual significance.
But the Savior understood the symbolism and the expression
of love in that gift, and He received it graciously.
"Let her alone," He said to those who murmured.
"Why trouble ye her? ...
She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to
anoint my body to the burying."
My brothers and sisters, my dear friends, what kind of
receivers are we?
Do we, like the Savior, recognize gifts as
expressions of love?
In our day the Savior has said that those "who [receive]
all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious," and
"the fulness of the earth is theirs."
I hope that this Christmas and every day of the year we will
consider, in particular, the many gifts we have been given
by our loving Heavenly Father.
I hope we will receive these gifts with the wonder,
thankfulness, and excitement of a child.
My heart grows tender and warm as I think of the gifts our
loving, gracious, and generous Father in Heaven has given us:
the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost, the miracle of
forgiveness, personal revelation and guidance, the
Savior's peace, the certainty and comfort that death is
conquered--and many, many more.
Above all, God has given us the gift of His Only Begotten
Son, who sacrificed His life "that whosoever believeth in
him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Have
we received these gifts with humble gratitude, with joy?
Or do we reject them out of pride or a false sense of
independence?
Do we feel our Father's love expressed in these gifts?
Do we receive them in a way that deepens our relationship
with this wonderful, divine Giver?
Or are we too distracted to even notice what God gives us
each and every day?
We know that "God loveth a cheerful giver," but doth He
not also love a good, grateful,
and cheerful receiver?
"For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon
him, and he receive not the gift?
Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him,
neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift."
Whether we have experienced 9 Christmases or 90, still we're
all children--we're all children of
our Heavenly Father.
Therefore, we have it within us to experience this
Christmas season with the wonder and the awe of a child.
We have it within us to say, "My heart is brim with joy,
and I will rejoice in my God"--the
Giver of all good gifts.
With you, and with all those who desire to follow the
gentle Christ, I lift my voice in praise of our mighty God
for the precious gift of His Son.
This Christmas season and always, I pray that we will
see the marvelous gift of the birth of the Son of God
through the blessed eyes of a child.
I pray that in addition to giving good gifts, we will
strive to become good and grateful receivers.
As we do so, the spirit of this season will enlarge our
hearts and expand our joy beyond measure.
This I say in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.