I loved getting gifts as a kid. I was researching what to ask for Christmas from the moment the previous Christmas was over. Crafting my wish list letter was, for the most part, a foretaste of my writing these reflections. I think my writing skills were honed through the crafting of pleas for the latest GI Joe or underwater scuba diver. Don’t get me started about what I accomplished in trying to gain possession of my first mini-bike. Needless to say, I created myself into a world class pain in the butt for my parents. When it came to gifts, however, all forms of propriety were suspended.
The word “Gift” has two common definitions:
- a thing given willingly to someone without payment; a present.
- a natural ability or talent.
In a sense, these two definitions are tied together in this saying that I found while researching this reflection”
“What we are is our gift FROM God AND our parents; What we become is our gift TO them.”
We did not ask for our lives, not did we choose our names. Our lives are a true gift that was given to us by God through our parents. Neither were bound to presenting this gift to us. But they willingly gave this life to us, not asking for any payment in return. Free and clear. We are not mandated to do anything with our lives. We do not even have to keep our names.
I recall when Elise and I went to Israel in 2012. As part of the trip we went to the Western Wall. The only remaining structure from the temple. It is a custom to write little prayers on small pieces of paper and stuff them into the cracks in the wall. I remember my prayer…my request…was for God to show me what he wanted me to do with this life he had given me. And for me to have my eyes opened to see it when He revealed it to me.
So we can take this gift of life and squander it or use it for our own purposes and benefit. Or, we can willingly “re-gift” it back to the ones who presented it to us in the first place. First to our parents. Now this does not mean that we should become whatever our parents want us to become. To lose our individuality. It does mean that if we make the most of what we have been given, in a way that benefits both ourselves and others, parents cannot help but swell with pride. Speaking from experience here.
But ultimately it is our responding to the gift of life from God that takes precedence. I firmly believe that each of us are born with a purpose. That God does, in fact, have a plan for each of our lives. And it is part of our job in life to discover what that purpose is and to do our best to fulfill it. Sort of like a lock and key. We are a key searching for the lock that our key best fits into. And once we find it, the door opens wide to the remainder of our lives. Maybe it isn’t just one big lock. Maybe we have a skeleton key that can open many locks and we go about our lives trying each lock we come across unlocking a bit of our destiny in the process. I sometimes think that, as long as we keep looking, God will keep us around on this earth long enough to find the necessary answers.
The prophet Isaiah in today’s first reading was not born knowing that he was a prophet to a captive Israel in exile in Babylon. We are told that he was called in his Mother’s womb but I doubt he emerged prophesizing. He was given his life as a gift from God. But his admonitions and encouragements to God’s people were his gift back to God. To try to keep God’s Chosen People on the right road to spread God’s message to the pagans. Right up until the time of Jesus.
And John the Baptist was most obviously a gift to Elizabeth and Zechariah. Barren all her life, and suffering ridicule, Elizabeth became pregnant with John the Baptist.
Do you think John’s birth certificate had “the” listed as his middle name? But I digress.
John took the gift of life he was handed and fulfilled his destiny to foretell of the coming of the Messiah.
Mary took on the unenviable role of raising the Son of God. No easy task, I am sure. Can you imagine as a parent trying to tell your child, “Do you know what will happen if you play in a busy street?” And get the answer back, “Hey, Mom remember. I AM God. You don’t have to tell ME what will happen!” Jesus took the gift that His Father gave Him and turned it into a gift, not only for Mary, but for the whole world.
We are all given the gift of life. And we are given the gift of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus. What are we going to do with that gift? Will we merely covet it and get whatever we can, like a spoiled kid at Christmas (guilty as charged). Or will we take that gift and focus our lives on the task of discovering what God’s mission is for us. And how are we to use those gift(s) that we were given. The words of John the Baptist make it clear as to what we ultimately are meant to accomplish with our gifts:
“He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30)
