One of my favorite hymns is a Shaker melody called Simple Gifts. The day Birdie learned it on violin was an especially sweet one for me; I’m actually dreaming of the evening I sit in an audience and hear her perform a duet with John Mark on cello. There will be tears. You’ve been warned.
The message of the hymn is one that resonates with my soul: it’s a gift to be simple… and when you finally get there, the freedom and lightness you feel is a kind of contented peace that allows you to delight in the smallest of blessings. Who doesn’t want that, especially as we journey through Advent and toward Christmas?
Naturally, at Christmas, there are gifts. Even those most minimalistic among us agree that it’s a season of giving… and gifting. In our family, we enjoy selecting small whatnots for one another, little items designed to bless and delight the people we love. Many of the presents waiting under our tree on Christmas morning are handmade, an extension of those feelings of simplicity and industry we try to cultivate year-round. Bookmarks, hats, doll clothes, all things that highlight the skill of the gifter, the love they have for the recipient, and the interests of the same. Others will be specific things, uncommon delights for individuals. A bottle of Barq’s root beer. A package of pens. Not huge investments financially, but relationally? Massive.
Our own gifts to the children tend towards the simpler, as well. Someone is getting odds and ends to round out her sewing basket. Another person will open the wood and nails to assemble a new bird house. Still another will find himself the proud owner of his own hardwood lucet. Each child gets one gift, and we attempt to make it something of real value to them. Of course, we spend time together. We sing caroles, we drive neighborhoods enjoying lights, we make ornaments, we bake cookies. That’s probably the biggest gift we give our children— and ourselves— in this season. Simplicity.
There’s so much pressure to perform at the holidays; so much noise on the outside telling us that what we have to offer isn’t enough. There’s a niggling voice saying that if you don’t have an avalanche of gifts under the tree on Christmas morning, take your kids to a professional Nutcracker ballet every year, spend four hours a day crafting up the perfect season, well… you’re selling yourself, your family, your love of Jesus short.
But there’s nothing simple about a hectic race to accumulate the trappings of a “perfect Christmas” if it brings you no joy. There’s no gift in an outpouring of money that brings you anxiety, or a to-do list of crafts you would feel miserable in not achieving. If you love the press of shopping or can press salt dough ornaments until you drop, well… do it. But if you’re not finding happiness in it this December, then stop. It’s only a blessing if it brings peace, friends. It’s only a blessing if it keeps your focus on Christ, on the joy and wonder of his birth.
There’s nothing worth sacrificing that Simple Gift for, no posed photo around a tree worth handing over your one and only Christmas 2018. Remember this, and embrace Advent with a quiet peace.
‘Tis a gift to be simple
‘Tis a gift to be free
‘Tis a gift to come down where we ought to be
And when we find ourselves in the place just right
It will be in the valley of love and delight —Simple Gifts, traditional Shaker Hymn