Christian gifts that are appropriate for friends and family are so hard to source. There are only so many rosaries and bibles and prayer books you can give and most people have one favorite prayer book they use week in and week out; dog eared and much loved with favorite passages marked.
At Christmas, the most honored Christian festival of the year, we guiltily indulge in wading through piles of gifts under the Christmas tree that have absolutely no connection to the spirit of Christmas. Families all over the World sit down to a mountain of food without a thought or a prayer for those who have no food at all; without a single Christian sentiment to mark the birth of Christ or remember the Holy Land where He was born.
Christmas traditions have morphed through the ages. In the earlier part of the twentieth Century, Christian families were new to such traditions as the Christmas tree, only introduced in the late 1800s. Christmas stockings tended to hold small items of food such as an orange or a Clementine and some nuts. Chocolate was never on the menu until later on, brought into tradition after the hardship of two World wars. Families attended church more regularly so church traditions and rituals influenced Christmas celebration with carol services and nativity plays.
As the twentieth Century matured, children began to receive sacks full of gifts rather than the tokens received in the twenties and thirties. Somewhere down the line, the spirit of the Christian gift disappeared to be replaced by the gift fests we are more accustomed to now.
A Christian gift can mean so much more than a brief frenzy of indulgence in things we really have little use for and will forget or wear out by January next year. There is no need for Christmas to have a Dickensian frugality but neither should it be a purely commercial orgy that sends our children all the wrong messages about what a Christian Christmas gift should be about.
The true Christian gift should say something about the origins of Christmas and the importance of Jesus' presence in all our lives. It need not cost a fortune and it need not come in a flashy box with bells and whistles. It simply needs to be a warm and friendly Christian token of love and friendship.
At Christmas, the most honored Christian festival of the year, we guiltily indulge in wading through piles of gifts under the Christmas tree that have absolutely no connection to the spirit of Christmas. Families all over the World sit down to a mountain of food without a thought or a prayer for those who have no food at all; without a single Christian sentiment to mark the birth of Christ or remember the Holy Land where He was born.
Christmas traditions have morphed through the ages. In the earlier part of the twentieth Century, Christian families were new to such traditions as the Christmas tree, only introduced in the late 1800s. Christmas stockings tended to hold small items of food such as an orange or a Clementine and some nuts. Chocolate was never on the menu until later on, brought into tradition after the hardship of two World wars. Families attended church more regularly so church traditions and rituals influenced Christmas celebration with carol services and nativity plays.
As the twentieth Century matured, children began to receive sacks full of gifts rather than the tokens received in the twenties and thirties. Somewhere down the line, the spirit of the Christian gift disappeared to be replaced by the gift fests we are more accustomed to now.
A Christian gift can mean so much more than a brief frenzy of indulgence in things we really have little use for and will forget or wear out by January next year. There is no need for Christmas to have a Dickensian frugality but neither should it be a purely commercial orgy that sends our children all the wrong messages about what a Christian Christmas gift should be about.
The true Christian gift should say something about the origins of Christmas and the importance of Jesus' presence in all our lives. It need not cost a fortune and it need not come in a flashy box with bells and whistles. It simply needs to be a warm and friendly Christian token of love and friendship.
SHARE
