The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1910-12-17
SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS GIFTS

Every year when the Christmas seo.,.
around the subject Of gifts comes up for d.;
sion, in private and by the press 1t ha. CON
be pre-eminentIy the gift season. Even III.
office department takes note of IT. and s,,u
that givers of presents send them out fanJ
in advance, so the great rush on the last d.r
be obviated somewhat. So the giving of .if,.
be considered a national institution o.
worldwide institution. For wherever Christ.
holds sway over the people, there the C,ri,l'
spirit is also. But it is feared the Christmas .a.
has been somewhat commerciaIized in thas. Il, '
days. 1t really requires two persons To- mol.
| Christmas present complete-one to give and ~
other to receive. And it ought to give both Gu
ing of joy and satisfaction. The giver OUGHT ~
| glad to give or he ought not to give. and tt.-
cipient ought to feel equally glad to receive II.
glver may be made very uncomfortable if his 49,.
ent Is received in the wrong spirit and the ra,,;
ent may be made equally uncomfortable if his on
comes to him in what he deems is an effort to o..
things up.
The spirit Of the gift is really the THING. Ts
is an old, old truth, but in that it is like most o
| truths. Time does not change them. Il Goo,1l
make much difference if a present cost ton oo,.
or ten dollars, if it is given in the right shirt
should be received in the same spirit An irs,.,
ton OF the price mark, or an estimate. usuar-
privately made, which counts the cost and oou
pares that with the cost of the one Won sent i
really confession that the spirit which sboni
animate you IS present in you neither as evp
a bn r
matter between the purchaser and the saIasms,
and should be forgotten when the transaction i
closed. Foolish indeed would be that person vI,
spent more than he could afford in buying Drsa
ent, and that would be another confession that fs
price mark was factor in selecting a present
STILL it is pretty hard to receive a present from
one you know cannot afford such an expensive gif
In spirit of equanimity Words of regret and
secret thoughts of the foolishness of the act in.
voluntarily arise and are sometimes expressed OF
course, you try to be pleased but then it is pre7
hard to be pleased when people act foolishly. as
they do sometimes. Men who work for living
even if they have good wages, frequently find them
selves embarrassed at the end of the Christmas
season with fattened pocketbook or a mighty
small balance in bank. And that condition. when
brought about by their own foolishness or Their
own silly notion of keeping up appearances efee
tually destroys the finer spirit of the Christmas
season, and makes them hold up their hands and
say, "Never again.
But the false idea of show, so opposed to the
modesty of our Savior, in whose honor the season
is celebrated, has made Christmas giving, and hence
receiving, an intolerable nuisance to many who
have renowned the custom of giving and who each
year request their friends to send them nothing
In this action they acknowledge that they have
missed the spirit of the season. and they are frank
enough to acknowledge it. But they arrive at this
point only after due meditation, and probably after
they had their gifts received in the wrong spirit
or after some one had been foolish in spending
lot of money on a present for them which money
should have been used in supplying what were man
ifesty the giver's necessities. In many instances
a Christmas card is more appropriate than any
thing else, for it may be given and received without
arousing any suspicion that anything but vel
wishes accompany it.
On the other hand those whose worldly pros
perity makes it possible to give costly presents are
not to be debarred from the joy they may get from
giving. For there is no prejudice against the costly
present. or there should be none when it is given
by those whose affuence makes such presents
real joy in the giving, The recipients Of such pres
ents should not feel any duty to reeiprocate, but
should receive the presents in the same spirit IN
which they were rendered. 1t is the spirit Of the
gift and the spirit in which it is received that
makes the JOY of giving and the joy of receiving
But the children should claim large part Of
the attention of the givers of gifts, Tor the chi
dren have claim on busy world that is frequently
overlooked. And among the children the orphans
especially should receive much consideration. Thef
unfortunate situation in the world makes then
lives and their happiness dependent upon Others
The institutions, not only those maintained by the
church, but all Institutions devoted to the care
children, should claim large share in the Joy o.
the season, and these should be remembered VIII
riftc There IL M doD0ar that those will ever "