| Sunny Side Up Dec. 3, 2003 �2003, Kathleen Gibson Celebrating one little tiny Word Last Sunday marked the first Sunday of Advent, the season leading up to Christmas. This is the time of year when Christians prepare to celebrate an ancient night of wonder. Angels held sky parties. A star marched. Shepherds held foot-races. And a Virgin did the incomprehensible. Delivered our Heavenly Father's very first Christmas gift, from out of her own womb. And so we too give gifts, in honor of his. What are your favorite gifts to give? Books are ours. They always fit. They seldom wear out. They inspire, educate, or entertain. They challenge, motivate and encourage. Name one other gift that is all those things, and easy to wrap too! Our passion for pages between covers is evident in our home. Books pile up on our coffee tables, overflow our shelves. They grace every room of the house, from bedroom to washroom. They keep us company during baths and long waits. There's always one in the pocket or purse for an unexpected moment of escape. Years ago, my father helped us pack up and move house. "You have far too many books," he said. He repeated this a little more emphatically after every trip back into the study. "Who needs so many books?" he finally puffed-most energetically, like an engine on an uphill climb, finally releasing its steam. We do. It's an ongoing love affair, our penchant for books. It's the words we love, of course. That's what makes a book worth buying. Even a picture book without words inspires thousands of them in the reader's mind. A word is an uncanny thing. Joined by others it becomes the fabric of our thoughts. It has the power to slip from the page, the pen, or the tongue and fly straight to the soul. It can build a bridge or destroy a wall (and vice versa). One author puts it this way: "God wove a web of loveliness, of clouds and stars and birds; but made not anything at all so beautiful as words." Unlike the Preacher and I, on that first Christmas God didn't give a book. Not even a bestseller. And he didn't fill a velvet stocking with Belgian chocolates-my favorite-either. His gift to us cost him everything. From his very Being God took an infinitely small package, wrapped it carefully, and placed it under the dark shadow of a tree. He signed the tag 'with unsurpassed, unconditional, forever love' and in unmistakable letters penned the name of every person who would ever live. Yours is there too. No, God's gift wasn't a book. But it was a Word. The Word that had been with him from the beginning of time. The Word that had BEEN him since the beginning of time. Jesus Christ, the Living Word, was God--wrapped in swaddling clothes. This Christmas, in all your gift giving and getting, don't forget the one gift that matters, the gift that started Christmas. Without Jesus, it's impossible to truly celebrate Christmas. You can respond to this column at [email protected] |
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