%PDF-1.7 1 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Outlines 2 0 R /Pages 3 0 R >> endobj 2 0 obj << /Type /Outlines /Count 0 >> endobj 3 0 obj << /Type /Pages /Kids [6 0 R ] /Count 1 /Resources << /ProcSet 4 0 R /Font << /F1 8 0 R /F2 9 0 R /F3 10 0 R /F4 11 0 R /F5 12 0 R /F6 14 0 R >> /XObject << /I1 15 0 R /I2 16 0 R >> /ExtGState << /GS1 17 0 R /GS2 18 0 R >> >> /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] >> endobj 4 0 obj [/PDF /Text /ImageC ] endobj 5 0 obj << /Producer (dompdf 1.0.2 + CPDF) /CreationDate (D:20250108063235+00'00') /ModDate (D:20250108063235+00'00') >> endobj 6 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 7 0 R >> endobj 7 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 2023 >> stream xXMsWvlߒ&lbT2NR C ZfrOkJrJ, ~ɋHDQDOxsOi.BKuFRDt%Wl|Ge"Hg"UZ כCE03=E?bӫx7'`'E"Xuqw`돟gV2M\+%`ayQ;`cfFcHMA̼mNQkZk%ʮc[r{Y5{r$C/gR^#K]V7N[΍uIJo*Z2 h @.Ɨ9Ge*yZm*1cp:U39߷-yԯK^QFA#8ir DdGv>`gV|Up"zﵯ79#J6Vq0voR+V03}-Bt]soH1õ4xT|XyXoX3 JN[Sfׇud)fgXPϯX8~c_B01x> m*}9v5xRE67N4yHU>#G'UL;`C b0LctJ{ f8bs^c P-813qeb [\H6~o{TJï;tfWjUO7%XƱvU5LВ8nlXK&W"M 0 ބ?@s gAJAC ]X=ȃFîs+޵' 5 %ܑվG6 yfB˙#zó"rxQC%Ӯ<`~`|Z ղty g5X>~| zy PQ4Ncd轸*sW7@&q4q@}e`/D CC-IV'X|]fbuimp0¦5 gDЕ&pf]KttU,QEB|uGCj"E2}X!.:ӂ tD, 8Zc2g/ء3esc7AG'SYw!Cf6W8׵bI eeY2\_(PyHlF޾ eiqsIf6Lxs}v4|#FIa$I ACˆ^Q0IuH\ _6H4<`/h|AoaƑG+;z o|:*4Kjb%Vx0f}Y˕뛻v>}]1՘W磳Ex1:{|_NO x endstream endobj 8 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F1 /BaseFont /Helvetica /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 9 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F2 /BaseFont /Times-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 10 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F3 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 11 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F4 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 12 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F5 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Oblique /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 13 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 14 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F6 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 15 0 obj << /Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Width 550 /Height 140 /Filter /FlateDecode /DecodeParms << /Predictor 15 /Colors 1 /Columns 550 /BitsPerComponent 8>> /ColorSpace /DeviceGray /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 5329>> stream xqDǯ뺒$ILfff&I335Lf2\3I2L&_3$3I$d+$\W=9y9lLss99P`0 `0 `0 `0 !U_:~u = F~sZŻدns⃪Qg¢G(F[-s͓^ DZ>d>3Dr#\OΉ, ZFwjux<;4Ƀxز#_v?nO<|{7c(b{Oū}w[N e~Hs䎷wwOn<1B.k+%U=eԘ -mCj)t:}c'ϓ*n"-ovkZ?R"V%wʶ7s]eX&eǕq` 1-2e JYHCFOUam 7:(Ԙt_@ހN t{B~ :V@}o#7!z^&zFL:ʤn X<- %"bNWqF c` M'4?cH-V`ǵAF>=#Ěm75dB I&7E5<>-͏їFǿl3M6x]Y&)2 FoΌ N.<t i4wL\^=_|Fo؏IȄ ik$ɄL?{?|tmCޮ=~T&iTevϷ'奔s?EꋄLPY͹箵?@L:Aˤ3y_:9AtA*0qVe- e6g)%a}.qKcI V/xʤzM|\ HSql0;*%+Mذ-闛obebu2iU&lLbtIcxb5^B#8 ޮaʻ _ w>j+L:$"&O;bZ K1 jmU玫ݢ=S/J<WO2'_yUPvp=`"aL5 Nl7"rlQT޼==-I[Se* F'(\`󴯉'{:נnVZ TG6*r$Tyx^LJū.C<3` %ANrxUo"˄ 0&$tO F&bIcW3GG͈ y!{m,LkCI d,(2"@ dR%F1thUL8Rݒ^+v9^?sʯYעDl~Qd" N2sc|ov}=F,3K#vxIvG^,[OM&wI[#,Jޙ\ض;L^fv[LbyYvM#/EI#/Zס$(ڼ ," &LK/IF i-Zx彰픢]MKeR n(PhV'LҸ\f$w/ e]"mɷWO߻˱ KerSPe (ӼGMȈ}X?ʍto7ZKl+81_Y&ǡd uʤ1Vw!sQ"/$zNkw(t)2BWQW"˄OXLp:e‡# וzn2F}qlc5ؾ:WH xLz LP:d# Q>(MRېd2Qt$o~R$YR5,-nޜLr_βehd" 2k1lvO X= eC p+[R=jU!֖}_DޟY2 (*wkZQ>Fl̲soR#^u3hhyTԲt.LtD8sk4z4Rbl@zp4hy0Tn\=.fnő Y/:TC9<@fSI$:QR/bq7DfR/ֻn)Vqd"䳽˄GL;ϝRG顼n&%Sv eFv,L"t}I&N> D73]$e)( ;]XhL`kSzJlcC$<)깍h}dr,1ܝRM뭍eMa $?e3f8΍҈&P(x+JU5{I 3 M- ;7|#G9 !\œ&=xp2,L{-`?OW":4uܚEadv ~9q.VdV%UT@73$@W¯B!ݒaVLH:!opr;gAɀiήpfߙR E/IDO*Luf0}{7mfyDxT.g)w5RvHx#Z]&M$ gZUTt+lZqZ_;a&JaG,-JLJDFIcV|:I3nB&;N0Lna=Y_Gl,p5,,kc EKgd;2vt7selT9˸sX޲.6r<1!| L0lTMS1?Xsf cq )KSgBB&׭x. v c@^Yk΀v],E[ɾ QhYyXXC2)g/J@su1ScL, ?C[{V2i͛!סӠ&> 6lu>4Ƕʤ|=12鱧l{^:a/Y%~].26G: p^CZ V&Vedҟ?RrX7d#I]ՕuL1 ?_ /12IEh ̴b<ӯ^e _ϝ䰻^]vy> /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 873>> stream x1j08-K/)],) &gi+:U̲\"9H!@"9H!@"9H!@eY.Z[p_E{QHKV[/`j%ʒcP,SX4W{7urd5ɱPr:-ֆʇX$$zfZpClbw7z{[]qGlwlGlZiM,ߺ7x}w` L9=3zpWL9 j)ۓB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$e]k` B$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$/؋ endstream endobj 17 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 0.3 >> endobj 18 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 0.3 >> endobj xref 0 19 0000000000 65535 f 0000000009 00000 n 0000000074 00000 n 0000000120 00000 n 0000000408 00000 n 0000000445 00000 n 0000000594 00000 n 0000000697 00000 n 0000002793 00000 n 0000002900 00000 n 0000003008 00000 n 0000003118 00000 n 0000003231 00000 n 0000003347 00000 n 0000003376 00000 n 0000003486 00000 n 0000009061 00000 n 0000010192 00000 n 0000010251 00000 n trailer << /Size 19 /Root 1 0 R /Info 5 0 R /ID[<880bd9840412b0ce42ca2372f9a0f7fd><880bd9840412b0ce42ca2372f9a0f7fd>] >> startxref 10310 %%EOF Unwanted Gift? | Caring Magazine

Vol. #28

Grace Uncovered

Read Issue

Latest Impact StoriesView All

Popular Topics

PopularView All

Unwanted Gift?

December 25, 2001
2 minute read
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
Listen to this article


General John Gowans

BY JOHN GOWANS – 

Most of us have had the experience of receiving gifts that we don’t like. “Why did they send me this?” we mutter ungratefully. “What good is it to me? I don’t need it!”

There’s nothing new about unwanted gifts. The first Christmas gift had a mixed reception though it was blindingly beautiful. Wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger, God had made a gift of Himself to a world which badly needed Him but didn’t know it.

In the first chapter of St. John’s Gospel we find a stunning statement. Speaking of the Son of God it says: “He came to His own…” (1:11). He came to the human creatures which He had made and joined them. He came to the vulnerability, which is part of being a human being; the limitations, the hurts, the disappointments, the suffering and the distress. Christ was God incarnated, totally sharing the human experience, including the messy business of coming into the world and getting out of it. God identified Himself with humanity. He made the gift of Himself. It beggars description. It’s wonder-full. It deserves ten billion candles on a billion Christmas trees.

But John’s most wonderful phrase is followed by the most sad. “He came to His own…and His own received Him not”! They showed Him the door! God was not welcome. He was an unwanted gift.

Christmas is part of the world’s history. But it is also a contemporary event. God is forever coming into the world, your world and mine. He is always offering the gift of Himself as a counselor, a protector, a companion, a comforter, a healer, a Savior. Christmas is a cheerful reminder of all this but it seems we have neither the sense nor the courage to receive the Gift. We are needlessly afraid of Him. We put up the “Not Wanted!” and “Not Necessary!” sign and our desperate spiritual poverty is the result.

Happily the message does not finish on this sour note.

He still comes to His own…that’s the good news.

And His own still don’t want Him…that’s the tragedy.

But those who do accept the gift of His presence in their lives still receive with this the right and the power to become God’s children, bearing a strong family resemblance to the Christ…that’s breathtaking!

God is renewing His personal offering of Himself to us again this Christmas. Inside the parcel wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger we will not only find a Love that will not let us go but also a Power which will make Christ-likeness possible for us. Possible, not easy. Not suddenly, but certainly.

Don’t say you don’t want it. Take it! It’s for you!

If you do, I promise you, you will have an extremely happy Christmas.

Download this page as a PDF

You May Also Like