Best Christmas Gift

My family is not a materialistic group of people around Christmas time (except for the young kids, but what do you expect) and we enjoy gathering for dinner more than the opening of presents. This year, I found myself in a position that I was very limited in what I could get for others for Christmas and this bothered me. While everyone sat around unwrapping presents, I sat back with a camera and smiled while taking pictures. My mother approached me and asked me to sit down and open some of my own. Now considering that I hadn't contributed much to the gifts for others, this made me feel guilty but I began to open the gift she handed me. I was a copy of The Lost Books of the Bible and the forgotten books of Eden, a book that I had been searching a long time for. On the back of the book was the sticker with the price still attached, a mere $5.99.

The rest of my family received hundreds of dollars worth of gifts. I received two more gifts, another book and a hand bound blank journal. Looking around the room at the end of the night, everyone seemed to be beaming over their gifts and discussing the lengths that they had went to in finding gifts that fit the person. I sat there clutching this $6 book trying to hold back the tears. While all too often people get blinded by the quantity of gifts or the simply the dollar amount, my family had gathered together to get me things that they knew I would appreciate and enjoy regardless of price.

After regaining control of myself, I no longer felt guilty for not having been capable of putting more under the tree for everyone. Instead I felt blessed in the knowledge that our presence there was our true gifts to one another. Looking back over the years, I can remember Christmas times when I have been able to spend hundreds of dollars on each member of my family. Also there has been times when I have struggled to get just a few gifts. All that time however, the real constant was the gathering of the family and not the gifts that give so much pleasure. The gifts are really just a reminder of the moments we spend with one another.

So this year I was given a gift that I hope I won't soon forget. Each time I look at this simple, inexpensive book I will remember my family and the love that we share for each other. My parents are growing old and are not in the greatest of health, so I don't know how many more Christmas gatherings we will have with the whole family. I do know however that each gift, each small token, is a memory of a time shared. These are things that are both priceless and timeless. I simply pray that the memories, like the gifts themselves, will remain for a long time.

~Rev Bryan Rutherford