A Christmas Message
Every year people ask - what is the true meaning of Christmas? How should we celebrate Christmas? Why has Christmas become so commercialized? We put up our Christmas trees and our Christmas lights, we rush from one Christmas party to the next, and of course we brave the crowds and the traffic to buy our Christmas gifts. At the end of it we're left breathless. At Gifts and Graces we see how frenzied gift buying can be and how frazzled one can get scrambling to complete the Christmas list. We are not immune ourselves. Having focused on fulfilling orders, we find ourselves rushing, preparing our own gifts at the last minute.
And so we ask ourselves why? Why do we give gifts? Why are we compelled to do so? I think at the heart of it, beyond the pressure and the trappings and the expectations, the desire to give gifts springs from somewhere pure and joyful deep within us because more than 2000 years ago we received the very special gift of the child Jesus being born to walk among us, love us, and later save us. And so each year we honor and celebrate this gift with gifts of our own, both tangible and intangible, to our loved ones, to the stranger on the street, to the rest of humankind. Gift giving celebrates our humanity, our worthiness, and the good that is in all of us.
At Gifts and Graces we hear stories all year round of how working on making a product has been a gift to others – the gift of tasting ice cream for the first time, the gift of having money to pay for a grandchild's tuition, the gift of discovering one's worth in honest work. This Christmas, we wish for you to give and receive gifts joyfully and humbly in the true spirit of this blessed season. And may you, all year round, receive gifts that truly lift the spirit.
In January we wished you success in 2011. To close this year and welcome 2012 we leave you with St. Theresa's beautiful prayer.
May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you
are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite
possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received,
and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones,
and allow your soul the freedom to sing,
dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.
In behalf of the Gifts and Graces Board of Directors and the G&G team, thank you for being with us this year. We look forward to growing with you and touching many more lives with you in 2012. Merry Christmas and have a wonderful, blessed, New Year! Cheers!
Greg
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