From the Editor: Mission Possible - Giving our gifts away

It was a covert operation. Outfitted in our black hats and hoodies, my then-eight-year-old son and I took off on our mission: to deliver a Christmas tree to our friend Sharon. She had decided to forgo having a Christmas tree that year since she’d be away visiting out-of-state family. When Jay overheard us talking and she mentioned she didn’t have a tree, he was horrified, indignant even, in the starry-eyed, Christmas-waiting way that eight-year-olds can be. “But Sharon must have a tree! It’s just not right!”

And so we found a manageable two-foot artificial tree and decked it out with mini-ornaments and lights. We waited until it was dark to embark on our mission.
I slowed our clunky sedan and idled up to the curb outside Sharon’s house. I had
barely come to a rolling stop when Jay jumped out of the car. He raced to her front porch and deposited the tree and jumped back in the car. And then just for the fun of it, we went screeching down her tree-lined street laughing giddily at our success.

It was glorious.

Sharon was tickled, and of course, we feigned ignorance of the caper and never took official responsibility. I like to think it was a parenting win. A lesson imparted to my son on the immense joy we receive when we do for others.

When my children were young, believe me, I did my best to create the perfect
Christmas. There were many late, late (late!) Christmas Eve into Christmas days
when we were up assembling toys, stuffing stockings and concealing the big surprise “Santa” gifts. And then there was our Hallmark Christmas moment when we brought home a puppy — our beloved lab Sammi who would be a cherished member of our family for 13½ years.

If I have any unsolicited advice to offer, it’s this: just stop. Pause. Put aside your to-do list and unrealistic expectations. Instead, hatch a plan to do something for someone else. And carry that plan into the new year with you.

All the trappings of Christmas are wonderful — don’t get me wrong — the magic
of midnight Mass, the lazy rhythm of our Christmas day, the delicious food and
goodies. But our lives, like Jesus’ life, are meant to be given away, not devoted to
our wants. I used to suppress (often unsuccessfully) an eye roll when people would say, “Oh, I don’t need anything, just come by” — but it’s true.

Imagine if we all recaptured the notion, the sense, the challenge that our lives really aren’t our own. They are gifts from God, and the best gifts are the ones we give away, like a little ‘ol Christmas tree.

May you have a blessed Christmas season and embrace the encouragement
of Pope Francis in our new year when he said,“… by acknowledging the dignity of
each human person, we can contribute to the rebirth of a universal aspiration to fraternity. Fraternity between all men and women. ‘Here we have a splendid secret that shows us how to dream and to turn our life into a wonderful adventure.’”