A reflection on the meaning of the second day of Christmas.
December 26, the day after Christmas, is known in some parts as Boxing Day. This name comes from a tradition of the wealthy aristocrats boxing up leftover food from the Christmas dinner.
Of course, this boxing had different intentions. In some cases, it was for their servants who otherwise wouldn’t get any of the good stuff. And sometimes it was to distribute to the hungry.
While the name doesn’t come from the practice of boxing up the trash from gift-giving and taking it to the curb, it certainly has taken on that meaning for some. All the trees on the curb this second day of Christmas proves it.
The connection between these visions of Boxing Day, though, is interesting. What is unwanted may be easily discarded. And nearly as easily given away.
Giving is a genuine and good virtue. It is reasonable and a small act that is open to everyone.
Valuable
What may be important to the giver, however, is to recognize how they are deciding what is valuable and what isn’t. Sometimes it is simply that it is no longer valuable to me.
This is, a most normal feeling! I can make a turkey dinner, relish every minute of it, and eat it for days afterward. But I really don’t like it as much on the third day. In this instance, value, for me, fades. Whereas, someone who didn’t get that dinner, may value the leftovers.
Leftovers, however, are the extra, which makes them, by definition, less valuable. To us, certainly, but in general. If you were to give your plate, on the other hand, you are given something of true value.
Hebrew Scripture invites us, not to give leftovers, but plan to give from the whole. Like farmers leaving a tenth of the field for the hungry and giving them access to it.
We’re called to give from the good stuff.
Which is why, in the giving fields, we are hearing people suggest we stop buying cheap food to give away (with the understanding that we could then give more). But that we should instead give the brands we personally use. So Green Giant peas rather than True Value.
Evaluating
These thoughts are not a rationale to criticize, however. It takes experience with poverty and charity to come to see what giving looks like in the real world.
For those royal families, it is a transgressive act to treat “the help” like actual human beings worthy of dignity. Precisely because it erodes the moral authority that undergirds their oversized power.
And it is a transgressive act for middle-class families to give away the stuff they no longer use rather than toss it in the trash. For the exact same reason: it dilutes the power of status when someone gets name brand jeans from Goodwill.
When we see this power at work, and realize how it works, we’re invited to see it deeper. And then we can see that our evaluating of our stuff is no different than our evaluating each other based on our evaluating stuff.
The Feast of Stephen
It is not unreasonable to imagine that this all came from a day after Christmas Day message.
Before there was a Boxing Day, the day after Christmas was The Feast of Stephen. He was the first named deacon of the church and its first martyr. And yes, it is odd that we celebrate Christmas this way.
As royal families gathered in church for daily prayer, they no doubt heard a message of Stephen, encouraging generosity and sacrifice. That this is the vision of a true life of faith. And perhaps those same people, moved by the Christmas spirit, felt called to serve.
To give, as they have received.
So we give. Now. And generously. Because that is a virtue with true value.