If you are like I am you just love this time of the year. What with all the hustle and bustle and all the trappings, the decorations, music, food and all; the crowds, traffic, pushing and the shoving; and the event that is so colorful it is called Black Friday. And in recent years that Black Friday has been extended for at least a whole month.
Most people do not enjoy such things. But me, I enjoy them tremendously. One of the main reasons I enjoy this time of the year is because I am a people-lover and a people-watcher. It is exciting for me to watch people go through their normal paces of living life. And this is a great time of the year to do just that. I love to, without judgment, observe how parents deal with their children in public, or how husbands treat their wives or vice versa while standing in line at the checkout lane. I love to observe the ways that customers deal with the individuals who are trying to help them solve their problems for little more than the minimum wage.
During this time of the year, between the vacation times of Thanksgiving and Christmas, there are a multitude of opportunities for observing people. The checkout lines are long, the parking spaces are few and distant, the tempers are short, the supply of that special gift I am looking for is never enough (I only need one), and the store workers are likewise in huge demand. For someone who is keen on observing the personality qualities which people generally demonstrate in their dealings with others, patience seems to be one of the rarest seen.
Well, the primary goal of going shopping anywhere at this time of the year is almost universally the same: to find that ideal gift for the person who has everything. Growing up in southern Ohio, one of my best memories was of my mother’s solutions to this very pressing problem: Almost always my mother found that she could give one gift that seemed to fit – the gift of fruitcake. She would go out and buy fruitcake and send it to those whom she determined had everything and would enjoy it.
I can remember as a kid not liking fruitcake very much. In fact, I applauded Johnny Carson the night he proclaimed on “The Tonight Show” that there was only one fruitcake in the whole world. He claimed that no one ate the fruitcake, but that everyone just took turns mailing it to those hard-to-buy-for individuals. I never liked fruitcake at all while I was growing up.
But the older I have grown, the more appreciation I have gained for fruitcake. It is, indeed, the perfect gift. The Christmas holidays are jam-packed with opportunities for giving this all-important gift. No, I am not talking about the kind with nuts, and fruit, and all sorts of sweet and savory tastes. I am talking about the kind of fruitcake mentioned in Proverbs 18:21 in The Message: “Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit – you choose.”
During the days and weeks that are ahead of us, if we are looking for them, we will discover any multitude of opportunities for us to praise God and be thankful for God’s blessings and for the gift of His Son. These are fairly obvious. But there are also other opportunities that will present themselves – opportunities for these internal feelings of gratitude and praise to be transformed into external, others-centered actions. One tremendously edifying and uplifting goal for each of us this Christmas season is that our speech would simply be overflowing with fruitcake.
Let’s face it. With the crowded stores, streets, parking lots and all, there are plenty of opportunities for each of us to poison those around us with our attitude and our words. But if we are intentional in giving “the gift that keeps on giving,” the gift of giving fruit and not poison, we will no doubt spread Christmas cheer like we have never seen. Not only does that fruit help us to cope with the pressure of the season, but it is also contagious.
So how can we keep our minds and hearts cultivating fruitcake rather than poison? Well, first of all, we can dwell in the psalms to gain a perspective of just how much God loves us and cares for each of His followers. I would even encourage you to start with Psalm 103, and “forget not all of His benefits.” We also should set goals each day for how many people we will affirm, whether it be at home (where it should start), at work, in the restaurant at breakfast or lunch. We should even look for ways to give fruitcake to strangers we encounter throughout the day.
The beauty of this kind of gift giving is simply this: When you pass this fruitcake on, everyone enjoys it. It is truly a one-size-fits-all. Won’t you give fruitcake this year?
God bless…
Chuck Tabor is a religion columnist for The Times-Gazette. He also serves as pastor of Port William UMC.
