‘Tis the season for re-gifting,
fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.
Tins of fruitcake are uplifting,
fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.
One more year to re-deliver,
fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.
Just remember last year’s giver!
Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.
I don’t know the etiquette of re-gifting, although I’m sure Miss Manners could teach me a thing or two. But it’s that time of year when, let’s admit it, we sometimes look around and see what we might have that we could offer to others. A gift card we never used, that duplicate toaster oven we never returned, the proverbial ugly Christmas sweater…
Or maybe we give from our own treasures: A book or painting we have that someone else has always admired, or perhaps a family keepsake that perhaps it’s time to pass on. Then again, maybe we can re-gift those most precious things of all, our time and talents. God, of course, is the giver of everything that is good and creative in our lives, even though we tend to call these things “mine.” MY gifts, MY time, MY talents. Carelessly and thoughtlessly, we can convince ourselves that we have earned these things when, in fact, they are pure gifts. No matter how hard we have worked to develop them, build them and use them, our contemplative selves will remind us — in our quiet moments of prayer and reflection — that everything is gift. Our response to the Giver, then, is twofold. The first response is gratitude. The second is re-gifting, passing on that time and talent to someone else in need of something we have. Here, like the family heirloom, we give from our abundance, from our treasure. And God smiles.
Ask yourself in silence: What treasures and talents can I re-gift this year?
