I received a Christmas card which had a manger scene with Mary exclaiming “Oh good. Diapers, powder and a blanket.” When you opened it up the inside read: Happily after the Wise Men left, some wise women showed up to help. As many experienced this past Christmas giving the right gift can be a challenge at times. What’s too much? What’s too little? What’s the right size? What’s the right color? The problem comes in that too often the giver gives what he feels comfortable giving instead of what the recipient would prefer to receive – hence, the cliché of the child playing with the box that some elaborate toy came in. Which brings us to the story of the Three Kings. The magi are famous in the Bible for the gifts that they brought to the “new born king of the Jews.” Can’t you picture one of the wise men saying, “Frankincense. That’s pretty cool. I’ll give that to the baby.” But I suspect that would not have been the gift that Jesus or Mary or Joseph would have asked for.
This story of Epiphany, the Three Kings, features the giving of gifts. But gold, frankincense and myrrh were strange gifts to give an infant. As we begin this new year maybe one of the resolutions we can make is to give to the “new born king of the Jews” not the gift we feel comfortable in giving but to give the gift that Jesus would actually want. This is easier said than done because, after all, God does not need us to give anything. God is the giver, not the receiver. Which suggests that the one thing we can give to God is our thanks. Everything we have, everything we are is a gift. We didn’t ask to be born. It was a gift. Putting two feet on the floor, taking in a breath of fresh air, being able to drink that good Lake Michigan water – all are gifts. Getting a good education is not our accomplishment but due to the gift of intelligence sent from God. We certainly need to do our part and eat the right things and exercise to stay healthy but the bodies that we have are gifts. So, yes – the gift we can give to God in return for all of that is our thanks. Do you remember the play Godspell? The St. James Players put it on once upon a time. One of the songs has this lyric: We thank thee then, O Father, for all things bright and good, The seedtime and the harvest, our life our health our food, No gifts have we to offer for all thy love imparts But that which thou desirest, our humble thankful hearts! Give thanks, this year.
Another gift we can offer on this Epiphany is faith. Not the faith that we have when reciting the creed or learning the catechism — not an intellectual or even a religious faith. Rather, the gift we can give to God is our faith that we are always, completely and forever loved by God just as we are, no matter what. This is the kind of faith that a soldier has when she straps on a parachute getting ready to jump. This is the kind of faith that a mountain climber has that the rope will hold. This is the kind of faith that we all show when we trust that the pilot can bring the plane down safely to land. We give this kind of faith to God when we believe that, all appearances to the contrary, the plan God has for our crazy mixed-up world is unfolding as it should. We give this faith when we trust that innocent suffering will be redeemed in some way we don’t or can’t understand. We give this faith when we hold on when the diagnosis is cancer, when the family is distressed, when grief overwhelms. This year we must give to God our faith that the divine love is being showered upon us at every moment of every day, forever.
Related to faith in God’s love is another gift we can give to God: our preferences. St. Ignatius put it this way: “As far as we are concerned we should not prefer health to sickness, riches to poverty, honor to dishonor, a long life to a short life.” We should give God our preferences so that we live completely in God’s will for us. Really? I don’t know about you, but I prefer health to sickness and I would prefer to live a long life. Ignatius’ point: if I insist on my preferences then I will not be open to the will of God when life sends me a curve ball outside of my comfort zone. By giving God my preferences this year I will have as my one desire and choice always and only what God wants for me.
Ignatius goes on to say that giving up our preferences is just the start. In a prayer he calls the “contemplation to attain the love of God,” we are told to give it all away. The prayer goes like this: “Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, my entire will, all that I have and possess. You have given all to me; now I return it. Dispose of it wholly according to your will. Give me only your love and your grace for that is enough for me.” We are back to where we started – with gratitude and faith. God has given us everything in love and really, what else do we need? Clinging to what I have at this moment, to who I am at this time, can inhibit my ability to take the next step that God might ask of me. Here, finally, is the gift we are called to give to God this year – the ability to say “whatever you want, Lord, that’s what I want as well.”
