The Rev. Dr. Garry Crites, "A Present for Yourself"
A Present for Yourself ---The Rev. Dr. Garry Crites Have you ever noticed how many holidays in December include gift-giving? Perhaps most obvious are those within Christianity, starting with Saint Nicholas Day and Saint Lucia Day, and ending on Christmas morning…with the occasional foray into the twelve days of Christmas that end with Epiphany. (Coming from a Swiss-German background, my family always opens gifts on Christmas Eve; Christmas Day was always a childhood anticlimax.) But other religions have December gift-giving holidays as well. Many Hindu adherents celebrate Pancha Ganapati with picnics and gifts. And Jewish families often celebrate Hanukkah, which offers (as Adam Sandler sings), “instead of one day of presents, we have eight crazy nights.” Some holiday gifts are big and flashy; every year there are commercials of someone going out their front door and seeing a fancy car wrapped in a giant bow. (Does anyone actually ever do