"Mommy, what is Christmas?" asked the three year old girl. Her mother explained that Christmas is Jesus' birthday. "Then why don't we give gifts to Jesus if it is his birthday?" Her mother explained the tradition of exchanging gifts for Christmas as expressions of our love for others, and that seemed to end the matter.
It did not come up again until Christmas Eve when a sleepy little three year old placed a package under the Christmas tree on her way to bed and explained that it was a birthday gift for Jesus which she was sure he would open during the night while she slept. After she was asleep, the mother not wanting her little girl to be disappointed, opened the clumsily wrapped package and found that the box was empty.
On Christmas morning the little girl was thrilled to find that her package was opened and her gift was gone. "What was in it?" asked her confused mother. "It was a box full of love" came the answer.
How childlike, how Christlike. A great reminder for us all - Christmas is love!