Tuesday, November 28
So to follow Cyber Monday we now have "Giving Thursday." Another relatively new creation. I knew I wanted to talk about this today, but I wasn't sure what I was going to pen, until my first words "So to..." were typed. Then I remembered the classic song which includes this phrase "So to honor him." And isn't that what all giving should be about? Honoring? Obviously we should give to honor Christ, but true giving honors someone or something...a birth, and an accomplishment, a memory. My wife and I are fortunate and are able to support a number of a programs...our local church, our local diocese, a host of universities and schools we/our children have attended, and some other special programs. As we examine our giving, we should be sure that our gifts are intended to honor others, not ourselves. Each morning I get the "daily readings" from the US Council of Catholic Bishops...yesterday's readings, from Luke (24:1-4), remind us of Christ's teachings on giving.
When Jesus looked up he saw some wealthy people
putting their offerings into the treasury
and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins.
He said, "I tell you truly,
this poor widow put in more than all the rest;
for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth,
but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood."
Today's song, The Little Drummer Boy, was written by the American composer Katherine Davis in 1941. It has been widely recorded; the first popular recording was by the Austrian Trapp Family Singers...like many I grew up listening to a version by Harry Simeone, recorded in 1964. I can remember listening to the gentle melody in front of my parent's fireplace. To this day, there is a peace about me when I listen to this song which details the simple gift of a little boy. All gifts are not equal, and this one, from the heart, reminds us of Christ's teachings that giving your excess is not the same as giving from your staples. In my closet I still have a simple flashlight given to me more than 30 years ago by a young boy...He had mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome (aka "Kawasaki disease"); I treated him with a new therapy at the time (IVIG, standard now) and he had a dramatic recovery. Some months later his mother brought me a present...to say they were poor is an understatement. Still, they chose to spend money they did not have to thank me for my care. It remains one of my most prized possessions.
Okay, for the music:
First, the classic version, then an amazing African interpretation by Alex Boye', and lastly a wonderful video with David Bowie and Bing (Crosby)...this was filmed shortly before Bing's death...I didn't realize that they had recorded this together; I thought the popular version was "dubbed." Study and learn, listen and enjoy.
