Chaplain's Corner - December 2025

God’s Unspeakable Gift

Mark Twain wrote this about Christmas: "The approach of Christmas brings harassment and dread to many excellent people. They have to buy a cart-load of presents, and they never know what to buy to hit the various tastes.

“They put in three weeks of hard and anxious work, and when Christmas morning comes, they are so dissatisfied with the result and so disappointed that they want to sit down and cry. Then they give thanks that Christmas comes but once a year.”

We have entered into a season of the year when gift-giving is very common. There was a time when the holiday was about family and being with those you love.

We can thank Charles Dickens in large part for centering Christmas on the family. The holiday is about “communion” and celebrating what we have more than what we want.

Somewhere along the line, this whole Christmas gift-giving notion has gotten twisted into something with almost no real meaning. One of the greatest challenges we face is trying to figure out what to get for that person who has everything and needs nothing.

We like getting gifts, but most folks are all messed up when it comes to what they think Christmas is all about. Their primary concern is in giving the perfect gift, but only God can do that. Only God could give the perfect gift. 

And that’s just what He did when He sent Jesus into this world. He gave us His Son Jesus, the greatest gift. He gave Jesus to be life for our dead souls and light to our darkened hearts. He gave His all when He gave us His Son.

James 1:17 – Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.