Has it ever happened to you that, after Christmas, you got a bill for the gifts you received? I hope not!—because then you had not received any gifts at all that Christmas. The very nature of a gift is that it is truly and completely FREE! You don’t earn a gift. You don’t give a gift and send along a payment due. Nor is it appropriate to evaluate a gift you receive and then try to decide if it is worth more or less than the gift you gave. In a certain sense there is nothing much better than to receive a true gift that has no strings attached. Such a gift has only one meaning and that is “I love you!”
G.K. Chesterton once observed: “Everything looks better when it looks like a gift.” Don’t we all love to receive one? The nature of true gift is that it is free! And that is the very nature of our lives. They come to us precisely as gifts, pure free gifts. There will be no bills coming due. Our one great responsibility is to receive our precious lives with wonder and gratitude. “The aim of life,” says Chesterton, “is appreciation. There is no sense in not appreciating things.” Our faith assists us in the crucial task of appreciating life as gift. If we are to understand this, we must also understand how poor we are. If all that we are has been freely given, it means we have not earned it and we are not the ones who give it meaning. If our very life has been given to us, it means we would not have it otherwise. We can’t shop for it; we can’t surf the web for it; we can’t order it through Amazon. No, we must wait for it and pay attention. We must notice what is happening and try to discern our own particular calls and respond generously and trustingly.
There is no better time than Advent for appreciating the gift of life. We are getting ready to welcome once again the in-breaking of our God. During Advent, we sense strongly that something is about to happen—something that we do not initiate, something that is simply being given. God is moving to meet us. Our main task during Advent is to get ready, to wait and to expect—in hope and in patience. Theologian Paul Tillich assures us: “Even as we wait, the power of God is already working within us. Though we do not grasp God, God certainly and at every moment grasps us. If we wait in patience, we experience that for which we wait.” Advent, then, makes each of us a seeker before the mystery that is God. We are those who yearn to see God’s face. And yet, in so many ways, that vision is already within our grasp. In the light of this vision, we are finding our completeness as human beings. The whole purpose of Advent and Christmas is to remind us of the amazing truth that God enters freely, willingly, and lovingly into our poor and limited human situation, and God is doing that right now!
That is what this time of year is all about—God sharing completely in the life that is ours. Advent enables us to be ever more open to this realization. It helps us expect and prepare for the great graces (gifts) that God has in store for us. It helps us be ever more grateful for the gift of life—a life that God chooses to share with us in ways beyond our imagining. Come, Lord Jesus!
