Gifts of lasting meaning

This holiday is meant to be a celebration of the purest, simplest, and most complete love ever known—the love of a heavenly Father who sent His Son to live among us, to teach us how to love, to make our lives better and happier. He eliminated the need for complex rules and rituals, and taught us that we didn’t have to be perfect, get everything right, and live up to unrealistic high expectations. All we had to do was love Him and love our neighbor, and with that, we’d please Him and find happiness.

Why not try something different this year and strive for simplicity in your Yuletide celebrations? Clear out some of the unnecessary clutter of events and expenses. Leave yourself time to concentrate on the things that will have lasting meaning for you and others: spend time with the people you care about; give gifts that will show not merely your good taste, but your care and concern; find someone with fewer blessings than you, and reach out to fulfill some need he or she has.

Ted Rudow III, MA