GETTING AND GIVING

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 64, 18 December 1946, Page 5 (Supplement)

GETTING AND GIVING

“It is more blessed to give- ”

Santa Claus had come to town :and had his annual parade. I was with the children, chattering as eagerly as they. Gifts! So they planned; and then I grew silent, i listening to them.

“What are you going to get?” How much there was of getting, and how little of giving!

“They presented unto Him gifts: gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.” How far in the past seemed the journey of the three Wise Men and their gifts to Him! “But what are you going to give?” I asked the children.

With eager eyes they looked up at me, then cried, “I am going to get—” “O.n my list, I put ” £ I know Mother will give me “Mother ”1 interrupted. “But what are you going to give her?”

Now they understood. “Oh, yes—this for Mother; and Dad will want ”

Already they had forgotten themselves, their happy hearts beating for Mother and Dad. With fear, I led them on, away from themselves and even from Mother and Dad. Hesitating, I suggested, “I know a home where three little children live with a mother —alone and poor. To them Santa Claus is only a name, a dream.” I stopped, for I must not urge them.

■ But they caught my suggestion with shrill cries ... So we packed the big box with warm clothing, candy and toys; and, best of all, the chicken, mince pie, pudding, and all the rest.

The Wise Men . . . They are not of the past; still they journey to seek Him, bearing gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Have you learned that greatest of all lessons, “It is more blessed to give than to receive?” Be more willing to give and less concerned about getting, then you’ll learn the secret of real blessedness.