Peace In The Margins

The media has honed in on holiday songs this year, specifically Baby It’s Cold Outside. But the Washington Post took a satirical jab at one of Christmas’s most, if not beloved, well-sung songs – The Little Drummer Boy.

It is interesting the writer talks of the little drummer boy as an annoying party-crasher who showed up with no present when it is so obvious he should have brought a gift.

While I totally get the sarcasm that oozes from this piece, I feel it is important to point out that tangible gifts aren’t always all they are cracked up to be. I mean, who really needs another pair of socks for Christmas? Don’t you cringe when great-aunt-what’s-her-name wraps-up the fruitcake she picked up at the church women’s group bake sale back in October just for you? And what about the pink bunny pajamas? What!? You don’t know about the pink bunny pajamas? [see A Christmas Story for explanation.]

My “sister-pastor’s-wife” (inside joke)…my pastor’s wife spoke during service this past Sunday with a message entitled Presents or Presence? What matters most when we think about the holidays – the gifts WE receive or the presence of our dearest loved ones? I’d argue (unless your id is that overpowering) that we’d all say presence is most important.

The little drummer boy shows up with his buds – you know, the shepherds who also crashed the party at the invitation of a bunch of boisterous angels – and is so moved that he desired to give the little King something. The songwriter paints an elaborate picture of the wise men, dripping with wealth, bringing their “finest gifts” to lay before this baby, and when the boy stares into the cattle trough, he realizes there is no gift worthy of this little baby. He thinks, “Maybe I can give something of myself.” And he begins to drum. Something so intensely personal is what this boy lays before Jesus. And shouldn’t that be the same with you and me? Presence is valuable – much more so than any presents we will ever receive.

So, in this time when the #metoo movement garnishes social media attention and debating the intent of a favorite Christmas song becomes centric to humanity, we should indeed take a moment to rest in the presence of the One for whom the season is celebrated. This Christmas consider giving something which actually costs – a personal sacrifice of your presence to someone who desires it the most.

Merry Christmas!

Alicia