The practice of giving and receiving gifts at Christmas has a convoluted history.
Many people don't know that for most of the 2,000 more-or-less years since the birth of Jesus any observance of Christmas was discouraged or outright forbidden in most Christian countries, including this one. Colonial America wouldn't have it. Protestants thought it was a Popish practice. Puritans who couldn't stand the thought that someone somewhere might be enjoying themselves wanted no part of anything celebratory or festive related to religion — religion is serious business.
But today the word "business" should be understood in the most literal sense.
Which may be why gift giving at Christmas is such a big deal. If "The business of America is business," it is in the best interests of business to promote the giving of gifts, which of course must be purchased from some business establishment. To some extent America's economic prosperity depends on Christmas gifts. Retail business owners frankly say that they would go out of business without the surge in sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas. No other nation on earth goes at Christmas gifting with the cultural gusto that we do.
I'm not inveighing against Christmas presents — it's a charming convention, and harmless enough overall. Of course abuses abound, but most good things have their defilers. Some religiously retrograde commentators deplore what they view as the secular commercialization of Christmas as a Holy day, but hardcore deplorers will always find something upon which to practice their pernicious negativity.
One aspect of Christmas gift-giving which has always rather grated on me is the question "What do you want for Christmas?"
I suppose there is nobody alive who wouldn't like to have something they don't currently possess. But I don't really want a Lamborghini, and I have shirts and sweaters and stuff still unworn from Christmases long past. I would accept the painless replacement of a degenerative lumbar disc, but if there were such a procedure it couldn't be placed under the Christmas tree.
A few years ago our family made a positive change in the way we do Christmas gift-giving among ourselves. Every gift given to or by an adult must be something the giver has made him/her self or something the giver already owns that has an important personal meaning. That makes gifting non-routine and personal. The little ones grow into the idea; they especially get a kick from giving a creation of their own rather than being told "here's a necktie for you to give to your grandfather." Gifting should not be thought of as either an entitlement or an obligation.
Sometimes we make end runs around the rule. Last week I saw something I knew my wife would like. I bought it and gave it to her today. Like other things we give each other throughout the year, it is not a Christmas gifts.
Like others with a pack rat in their gene pool, I have lugged boxes of stuff from residence to residence for years. Digging through one of them recently helped me decide on one gift I'm going to give. I found a small age-yellowed card identifying me as an 8-gallon blood donor.
That's far from a record. A rabbi where I live of blessed memory gave 18 gallons. I have been a frequent but inconsistent blood donor most of my adult life. I intend to change that; I have an appointment at the local blood bank two days after Christmas.
It is a gift that perfectly meets our family criteria. I made it myself, it is intensely personal, holds great value for me, is given to someone who is not expecting it, someone whose life may be saved by my gift and will never know who gave it.
Perhaps my friends at the local blood bank can find a creative designer who can come up with an ad showing blood to be our equivalent of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

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