"It is more blessed to give than receive."

It is also a whole lot easier.

‘Tis the season! I don’t bemoan the tinsel and the twinkling lights, the commercial hype or the self-induced hysteria. I love this time of year.

I do, however, mourn the loss of one important element of the Christmas season. It is the gift of receiving gifts with grace. It has become more and more apparent to me that many of us have lost the ability to gracefully accept the gifts of others.

Have you noticed?

Someone gives you a gift and immediately you are frantically trying to decide what to buy them in return. Someone else invites you over to their home for dinner and before you finish the appetizer you have already made plans to return the favor. The very thought of receiving a gift has become overshadowed by the heavy burden of obligation.

This sad state of affairs has permeated every aspect of our lives...including our faith.

"I don’t take charity!" is a statement of pride in our society.

"There’s no such thing as a free lunch." we piously tell our children.

"God helps those who help themselves!" we claim with certainty.

We continue to teach and to believe that we must not be beholden to anyone. We cling to the American ideal of rugged individualism. We pull our own weight and need help from no one.

Yet Christianity is based on the grace-filled gift of God in Jesus Christ. Unmerited and undeserved, this gift comes to us without any strings attached. The God who is love simply seeks to share that love with each of us. It is a gift, in the true sense, without obligation.

That makes us very uncomfortable. It goes against what we really believe.

Nothing can be that good.

The Good News is too good to be true.

But that is what the Christmas season is precisely about. It is the reason that gifts are offered. They are symbols of that most precious gift, symbols of grace.

How wonderful it would be if this Christmastide we could all capture the true spirit of this special time and allow ourselves to accept with grace and not guilt, with words of rejoicing and not reciprocity.

How wonderful it would be to put Christ back in Christmas.