The Tribune

EVEN at the beginning of Advent, we are already purchasing or thinking about the Christmas gifts we may want to give this year. A part of our Advent meditation and preparation for Christmas may be greater thoughtfulness about how we will celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Released in 1970, the Jackson Five’s Christmas Album was wildly popular and included memorable tunes such as the group’s versions of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” and “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”. The commercial pop songs were fun and meant as light fare.

Another song on the album was “Christmas Won’t Be the Same This Year”, a lament of a young man who had lost his girlfriend and was missing her “loving arms” during Yuletide.

The song’s title captures a feeling of loss many have at Christmas, such as the death of a loved one, the regret that a daughter or son who won’t be home for the holiday, a worrying health diagnosis, or other feelings of grief and loss.

The spiritual value of Christmas is primary. This includes a deeper experience of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ and its plenitude. Christmas is also a time for family and fellowship. Though material concerns sometimes outstrip its meaning and deeper joy, certain material attributes do enrich the celebration.

A gaping loss felt by many near the end of 2023 is the battering families are experiencing from the high cost of living, especially the amount of money eaten away by exorbitant electricity bills and the high cost of food.

Amidst such anxiety, many have experienced extraordinary expenses they did not expect such as a health matter, a major appliance that no longer worked, a busted water pump, mechanical problems with a vehicle, or some other expense.

Many are concerned about how they will afford basic features of Christmas such as gifts for family members, a tree, food for the season, and other items that help to make this time of faith, fellowship and family more meaningful and enjoyable.

A number of Salvation Army volunteers stationed at the entrance of commercial establishments were asked about how donations are doing this year. The response was similar across the board – donations appear to be down.

Christmas won’t be the same this year for many Bahamians who have spent so much money just surviving the onslaught of ever mounting prices. Yes, we must remember the spiritual meaning and purpose of Christmas.

But this meaning includes our generosity in helping to provide material goods that will bring a certain joy to children, families, the elderly, the sick and others in need of Christmas cheer and love.

While we may be unable to afford certain gifts we want to purchase, there are less expensive and other forms of gifts we may offer. A recent New York Times article explored gift-giving: “People tend to overestimate the correlation between a gift’s monetary value and its emotional impact, explained Julian Givi, an assistant professor of marketing at West Virginia University’s John Chambers College of Business and Economics. ‘These no-cost gifts that people are creating from scratch, they’re conveying thoughtfulness and care and appreciation,’ he said, all of which mean more than a receipt.”

While many of us are reasonably or even very good at giving gifts to family and friends at Christmas, we might widen our giving this year to include donations and gifts to those whose Christmas we can make more enjoyable or richer through grants of money or gifts.

Our neighbours live and are in need beyond the confines of our neighbourhoods and circle of family and friends. Our monetary or other gifts may enable someone to buy a ham or turkey, to get a Christmas tree, to provide presents for children.

A friend tells the story of buying gifts one Christmas. He purchased gifts for his nieces and nephews along with a few other presents he took to a local charity. Some weeks later, an official at the charity told him that the presents he brought, which were not expensive, made all the difference for a number of children.

No matter the friend’s financial situation in a given year, he has been giving presents to this charity for nearly two decades.

There is another compelling Christmas story told on the television series M*ASH that exemplifies the spirit of generosity and how giving manifests itself in myriad ways:

“After an attack on the supply convoy, [the camp] realise their Christmas dinner is being cancelled. In addition to ruining everyone’s holiday, this is going to be even more devastating to local orphans, [who have] been invited.

“In order to salvage the party, they take up a collection - everyone's received non-perishable food shipped from home, so there’s more than enough. And, of course, everyone happily parts with it, with one exception.

“[The wealthy Major] Winchester … refuses to give much of anything despite having received several large packages. He's hated for this … but he holds firm, then slips away into town.

“Turns out, the reason he didn’t want to hand over his chocolate stemmed from a family tradition: every year, they'd give away expensive food to the less fortunate anonymously. He wants it to go to the orphans; he just doesn’t want to receive credit. The only one who knows is the director of the orphanage.

“At the party, Winchester discovers the chocolate he [gave] to the orphans made its way to the black market. Furious, he pulls the director outside and yells at him, until it’s explained the candy was sold to purchase rice and cabbage, which the kids need more than candy.”

We do not need to provide extravagant gifts to help others celebrate Christmas. Still, certain basic gifts may make all the difference.

These include material gifts as well as non-material gifts such as spending time with someone who still mourns the loss of a loved one, the gift of a fruit cake, minutes on a phone card, some beers, movie tickets for a group of children or gifts that will simply ease a burden or make someone feel lighter, better, happier, even for a day or two or even more.

For a number of families Christmas won’t be the same this year without our generosity of spirit and basic gift-giving. At the dawn of Advent and as we prepare for the great gift of the Incarnation, how might we become a source of light for another in need of such warmth, kindness and generosity?