The Gift of History

History is a something we generally take for granted, but truly it is a gift. Where would we be if we only knew what was going on right now? With no beauty or inspiration recorded for us to savor, to reflect upon, to use as a guide or even a
warning.

I take the liberty of recording a story from the early 1900's, my Holiday gift to you by O. Henry, entitled "The Gift of the Magi". Here is its summary:

A young married couple with little money independently ponders how to provide each other with a holiday gift.
The husband goes out on the snowy December city streets, looking in windows for inspiration. Finally, he spots the perfect gift: tortoise-shell combs for his wife's long, lustrous hair. But in order to buy them he must sell his watch.

Meanwhile, the wife searches for a way to get money to buy the husband his gift. Finally, she hits upon the ideal scheme: sell her long hair to a wig-maker. Thus shorn, she now happily buys him a present: a fob for his watch.

When he comes home from his shopping outing, the husband is shocked to be greeted by his wife with her hair now short. He holds out her gift -- when she unwraps the combs, she bursts into tears. Then she hand him her gift to him, and he is likewise moved by it.

The couple decides that the moral of their story is that material gifts are not as important as that which is even more precious than the frankincense, myrrh, and gold given to the Christ Child by the Three Kings (Magi) -- that gift is their love for each other.

History gives us a look back into a time before the commercialization of Christmas. Keep this story in mind when Christmas Day arrives. It is LOVE that is the greatest gift!

Merry Christmas to you!