Article December 20, 2010 Issue

A perfect present

As the busiest shopping season approaches, taking a spiritual look at gift-giving tops the to-do list.

BY JOHN CREED

Facing hordes of Christmas shoppers clogging malls, jammed parking lots, and a host of seasonal inconveniences, I yearned for a little peace and quiet during Christmas several years ago. It felt like the whole season was becoming a costly, over-commercialized extravaganza. I wanted a more relaxed mental atmosphere, where I could reflect on the joys of the season!

A thought crossed my mind: Why do we give gifts in the first place? And why is this tradition so embedded in consciousness that we often feel guilty if we don't give the right presents? As Christmas Day approaches, it often feels like we lurch toward a spending finale, buying whatever is left on the shelves in the hope that it satisfies some need.

As a student of Christian Science, I wondered how I might translate the concept of Christmas gift-giving into spiritual terms. As I thought about this, I discovered this statement in Science and Health: "The physical healing of Christian Science results now, as in Jesus' time, from the operation of divine Principle, before which sin and disease lose their reality in human consciousness and disappear as naturally and as necessarily as darkness gives place to light and sin to reformation. Now, as then, these mighty works are not supernatural, but supremely natural. They are the sign of Immanuel, or 'God with us,'..." (p. xi).