For Christmas memories that will stand the test of time, give the gift of service

The Christmas season is filled with energy, noise, lights, carols, and shopping. It seems to kick off the day after Halloween as store aisles swap strings of pumpkin lights for their snowflake and icicle counterparts.

After a pause for Thanksgiving, the shopping season is in full swing with Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Catalogs stuff our mailboxes and online ads fill our email. And through all this, we try to find the perfect gift for the people in our lives.

Some of those people, especially younger ones, are happy to tell us what they want. Older ones may offer hints, while others assure us they don’t need anything — except perhaps a card, or phone call or visit.

Last Sunday two members of the congregation spoke about their Christmas memories. The first described his efforts to recall Christmas gifts received through the years. Though remembering one or two from recent years, only one gift was recalled from the previous 30 or so years — a Lionel train set when he was 8.

What did he remember? The time spent with family and friends. Christmas with parents and siblings, with wife and children, and grandchildren. Memories of love and friendship and being together.

After listening to the first man, the second told us he had spent several minutes trying to recall his own Christmas gifts. What he remembered, however, was not found under the Christmas tree that year.

As he hurried downstairs that morning to check out his Christmas gifts, his father met him with instructions to grab his coat and a snow shovel. In response to his indignant protests about Christmas and the unopened presents, his father repeated the instructions.

Following his father through the new fallen snow, shoveling walks at a number of homes, his 12 year-old frustration receded. Years later, he recalls the peaceful morning, the companionship of his father and the “little old ladies” who waved and called out thanks from their doorways.

He does not recall the gifts he unwrapped that year, but the joy of serving others with his father. Not a gift received, but service given.

Christmas represents the first gift, Jesus Christ, who was sent by God to atone for our sins, that through Him we might have eternal life. In return for that gift, we are asked to love God, and to love our fellow men. Christ’s love was shown in his service to others.

Celebrating Christmas with family and friends is a gift to each other. Service to others is also a gift, both to the giver and the recipient. Serving others brings joy, an opportunity to connect with others, and the blessing of reaching beyond self.

Make the opportunity to give gifts of service this month. The gifts need not be large. A smile, holding the elevator or opening a door. A plate of cookies. A heartfelt compliment. And don’t forget that shoveled walk!

The New Year offers an opportunity for reflection and resolutions. Perhaps this year our resolutions can include frequent gifts of service throughout the year.