Thoughts From Dr. Joe

What Makes a Christmas White?

I’ve got a story to tell. It took place a long time ago. I wish I could have written it; but who’s got the poetry of imagination to capture the drama of that miraculous night? I’m just here to tell it.

It’s a story about gifts. It’s the season of gifts; for Christmas is about gifts; always has been. But I am not writing about the gifts found at the mall. Amid the chaos and commotion of Christmas it’s often difficult to remember the deeper meaning and the association of gifts with that meaning. Those deeper meanings are found in the story of the first Christmas and the first gifts. The Christmas Story itself is a gift. Look at what it has given us!

Weave through my metaphors and look for the method of my madness. The story borders on the miraculous and the miraculous is always mysterious.

It was a Jewish teenager named Miriam, known to her family as Mary, who gave the first Christmas gift. Look what she gave the world. Her Christmas presents were selflessness, the complete surrender of ego and the will needed to bring Heaven down to Earth. So, the first gift of the first Christmas was of the Spirit. It was unconditional love.

The gifts of her fiancé, Joseph, were trust and faith. He trusted and believed there really was a Divine Plan to get them through this mess. Where would we, the masses be, without his gift of faith? It is faith that helps us navigate through the maddening inertia of things. The Child brought forgiveness, wholeness, and second chances. “Second Chances” is the gift that keeps on giving.

The angels’ gifts were tidings of comfort, joy, and peace, the reassurance that there was nothing to fear, so rejoice! Hark, the herald angels sang, “Fear not for behold we bring you tidings of great joy!”

The shepherd boy’s gift was generosity: his favorite lamb for the baby. The innkeeper’s wife’s gifts were compassion, charity, a warm, dry, safe place for the homeless family to stay, her best coverlet to wrap the new mother and little one, a meal for Joseph, and the donkey’s fresh hay. The little drummer boy gave us the melody that would last forever in our hearts.

The three kings traveled many hot, dusty miles, following a bright star in search of a royal birth. The sages’ divination foretold the coming of the “King of Kings.” On their camels’ backs were treasures with which to honor his arrival. But when they arrived in Bethlehem, they found the newborn prince in a cow stall instead of a palace. Hmm! Find the metaphor and you uncover the secret of Christmas.

The kings’ unwrapped gold, frankincense, and myrrh. However their real gifts were wonder, acceptance, and courage. They offered wonder by surrendering logic, reason, and common sense. Accepting the impossible, they suspended skepticism long enough to double-cross the insane King Herod, who was frantically searching for the child who would change the world. With courage, and at risk to their own lives, the Wise Men helped the young family escape to a safe haven in Egypt.

Yeah, Christmas is about gifts. Gifts of the heart; gifts that surprise and delight; gifts that transform the mundane into the miraculous, gifts that nurture the souls of both the giver and the given. They are authentic gifts, gifts of Spirit, and are all part of the drama of a frightened teenage girl, her bewildered sweetheart, the Child, the angels, the shepherd boy, the inn-keeper’s wife, the drummer boy, the Magi, and the screaming King Herod.

Unconditional love, selflessness, trust, faith, forgiveness, wholeness, second chances, comfort, joy, peace, reassurance, rejoicing, generosity, compassion, charity, wonder, acceptance, and courage are the best gifts to give and get. They’re the first gifts of the first Christmas.

Find one of those gifts and give it this Christmas. They’re found in your heart, not under the tree. “Without love, all the snow in Alaska won’t make Christmas white.” (Bing Crosby)

Let me end this write with the first Presidential Christmas message: “Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind. To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas. If we think of these things, there will be born in us a Savior and over us will shine a star sending its gleam of hope to the world.” (Calvin Coolidge, 1927)

What a great story. I just wish I could have written it. But nobody could have such brilliance of metaphor.

Joe Puglia is a resident of La Cañada and a professor at Glendale Community College. He holds a doctorate in education with a special emphasis in the psycho-social educational development of young adults. He can be reached at captinjoey@yahoo.com.