True gifts cannot be purchased

We always worry about the shopping days. Well, for the record, this is the last shopping day before Christmas, 2009. And, yes, I need to go to the store. My list will include yams, rolls, and other assorteds to have on hand for tomorrow's dinner at my sisters' house and the dessert/bonfire which follows here at the Lovestead.

Most of my purchased gifts are wrapped. Most of my most cherished gifts will never be wrapped nor given just at Christmas. Oh, they may be covered up with clothing, but, in most cases, that will be every day throughout the year. And, I'll celebrate them as best I can most every day of the year.

Most of my most cherished gifts walk on two or four legs, and occasionally I take them for granted. They come as friends, as family and as my collection of critters. They also come as living, growing, flowing things that surround me everywhere I go----trees, shrubs, beautiful mountains, streams, rivers and lakes.

Christmas is a time of celebration and gift giving, and we do our best to keep up with it all, sometimes enduring more stress than is necessary. It occurs to me at Christmas, however, that the efforts to keep this earth spinning 365 days a year with some sort of reason are only accentuated at Christmas.

Gifts are given every day through friendship, thoughtfulness, laughter, compassion and, yes, material items, either crafted by caring hands or bought with varying amounts of money. The greatest gifts cannot be purchased, however.

Christmas time reminds us of what is truly important in our lives. Yesterday, it wasn't the cookie plates and apple jelly delivered to the neighbors that meant so much to me. It was the feeling of hospitality at Geneva's house when the annual cup of coffee and the cookies from that cannister up on the shelf that only Stan can reach served as accessories to good conversation, laughs and sharing of stories about family members and friends.

It was also the tears in Mary Taylor's eyes as we talked passionately about how Christmas helps us reflect on the potpourri of kindness and caring we've witnessed or received from years past.

We agreed that Christmas brings together all those important in our lives, either through cards or cookie plates or telephone calls, or even in our newest method for keeping in touch---Facebook.

We may not think about some people all year long, but the Christmas season, through all the busyness, reminds us of our assortment of special friends and family who have played a role somewhere along our chosen life journeys. We may even build new relationships as we Loves did last night when our new neighbors, Chantel and Scott, came over offering a cookie plate.

By the time they walked out the door each receiving a big hug, they were carrying a set of Love-penned books, some applesauce, apple jelly and even a special geocaching coin for Chantel to give to her dad. And, it was agreed as they went out the door that they'll be over in the spring to collect some of that well-aged horse-apple compost for their garden next year.

There's no way to buy the intangibles that mean the most to us. These are given freely, and they are accentuated at Christmas time because of our reminders of what started all this hoopla in the first place.

The greatest gift at Christmas is knowing that we can give and receive all year long. And, generally, the purest of love, friendship, compassion, laughter and natural beauty we share every single day does not cost a cent. Merry Christmas!

Now, it's off to the store to spend money one last time before the big day!