Giving gifts to those who can not give in return
One of the true marks of being a genuine Christian is when we give gifts to people who cannot afford to give us anything in return. The rituals of gift-giving today in a highly secularized world and in an era of too much materialism and consumerism, is too transactional. Businessmen give gifts to BIR and Customs officials and personnel, for obvious reasons, of course.
Contractors give gifts to members of the bidding committees and we do not need to explain why. Suppliers give gifts to purchasing managers and staff and such practice has become a standard operating procedure. In many government agencies, they call these gifts “for the boys.” Of course, these are metaphors for bribery.
But the greatest gift of all is the gift where the giver expects no favor from the receiver. I remember when I was still living along B. Rodriguez Street, Cebu City, in that urban poor settlement, which was formerly blatantly called a squatter area. I recalled that poor as we were, we gave gifts to the other poorer people at the riverside behind the Cebu TB Pavilion.
Whatever we received from richer people, we gave all away to people who needed them more. And, I tell you, the kind of joy we felt then could not be measured even until now. We were daily-paid workers, manual laborers, and we subsisted on minimum wage, which was less than P10 a day in the early ‘70s before martial law. But we were united and we were happy, in harmony and filled with hopes for Christmas or Good Friday.
But we were our brothers’ keepers. There were families who did not know where to get their next meals. There were sick who couldn’t buy medicines, there were ill-clad, half-naked children, while the rich had too many extras that they never used. We were just the bridge between those who had nothing and those who needed nothing. It gave us immense happiness to go caroling not for ourselves but for others.
We gave entertainment, like stage dramas, song and dance numbers, and cultural shows just to earn money for the use of others. We hardly had something for ourselves but our hearts were filled with mercy and compassion for others. We were too poor materially but so rich spiritually. And that, to us, was what mattered most.
If we really think about it, Christmas really is about God giving the gift of his only son to the spiritually impoverished world, without expecting anything in return. The three kings, Melchor, Gaspar, and Balthazar traveled far and wide, crossing deserts and rivers, climbing mountains and hills for many days and many nights, bearing gifts of gold, myrrh and frankincense without expecting anything in return.
Jesus himself, our lord and savior, offered his life without expecting anything in return. This is the true meaning of Christmas, giving something, giving time, giving attention and care, compassion and concern for those who could not give something in return.
It is in giving therefore, without expecting anything in return, that we discover the real meaning of Christmas, the real meaning of living. And that is what matters most.
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