Volume 31

Critics of his day thought the work of American writer O. Henry was little more than literary candy but the public loved him.

Born William Sydney Porter in Greensboro, North Carolina, his mother died when he was three and the doctor’s son was raised by his paternal grandmother. William left school at 15 and worked as a pharmacist, rancher and bank teller.

Shortly before marrying in 1887, Porter started a weekly magazine and began drinking heavily. He then became a reporter for the Houston Post but it was discovered cash had gone missing from an Austin bank when Porter worked there as a teller. To avoid trial, he fled to Honduras but was convicted of embezzlement when he surrendered in 1897 while visiting his dying wife.

In prison, Porter started writing stories to support his daughter, Margaret. He did three years of his five year sentence then changed his name to O. Henry before moving to New York City where he wrote for several magazines. In 1906 — four years before he died of cirrhosis of the liver — he penned his famous Christmas story.

Gift of the Magi is about two young impoverished newlyweds. Yearning to give her husband something special for Christmas, Della sacrifices her prized and perfect long brown hair, selling it Christmas Eve for $20 to buy Jim a fancy chain for the beloved watch that once belonged to his father and grandfather — a watch he sometimes checked furtively in public because it was on an ugly leather strap.

When Jim comes home on Christmas Eve, he’s stunned to find Della without the beautiful hair he adores but he quickly gathers her into his arms. Before he knows about his present, he reluctantly givesher a gift of his own: beautiful, tortoise shell combs with jewelled

rims, ones she had admired in a store window months before and would’ve been perfect for her now-missing hair!

Amid tears and assurances that her treasured tresses will grow back quickly, she gives Jim his platinum watch chain. And then, in typical O. Henry style, we learn the awful truth. Jim has sold his watch to pay for the combs. The two had “sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house,” the story says. “But in a last word to the wise... let it be said that of all who give gifts, these two were the wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.”

The magi, of course, were the proverbial wise men who brought gifts to the infant Jesus, not out of duty but devotion. And so it should be with us when we give good things to those we love. Like God himself who sacrificed the greatest Treasure of his house, we must give what is uniquely ours to give, and give it willingly, whatever the consequences.

This Christmas, we can give our Father, family and friends token gifts that cost and concern us very little — even when they’re expensive — or we can share ourselves in all the ways that matter, surrendering the time, talents and attention we’re tempted to keep for ourselves. Harder still, we can extend those gifts and graces to those who don’t deserve them, or appreciate them, just as God does with us.

After all, we’re frustratingly flawed, just like O. Henry. He was a convicted criminal who deserted his wife, drank two quarts of whiskey a day, and failed at a second marriage to his childhood sweetheart after just a year. But he shared himself, wrote wondrous stories of love and justice, and his gift continues to inspire. He saw glimpses of God’s heart that elude the most proudly pious.

Despite our moral failures our Father can use us and our God-given gifts to bless others while we deal with our persistent weakness. But that will only happen when our motivation is true love for others and a profound sense of gratitude for the goodness and forgiveness we find in Christ, a Christ who went from the crèche to the cross, all for us.

“God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) So what will you offer Jesus and those around you? For the magi of every generation, real giving is loving and selfless — and loving self less. Have a blessed Christmas.

By Rick Gamble. Published in Cross Current, the weekly newsletter of the followers of Christ congregation in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. Reprint at will in not-for-profit publications. To subscribe to this free weekly article, send a note to Rick at sgamble@bfree.on.ca