You're most likely reading this around mid-December with the holidays hard upon us. I just heard on the radio that the old carol "The 12 Days of Christmas" earned the No. 1 spot in a poll asking, "What's the most annoying Christmas song of all time?" Please ... as bad as "12 Days" is, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" beats it in annoyance by a mile of ladies dancing, and even that one falls short of Burl Ives singing "A Holly Jolly Christmas." Don't get me wrong, I'm a sucker for good Christmas music, anything from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to a great Gospel group to John Prine, well, crank it up. The "12 Days" song describes 12 increasingly elaborate gifts received by the singer from her "true love" at Christmas. This got me thinking about my own favorite Christmas gifts. And while material gifts tend to fade over time-used up, lost, broken, or forgotten-we each have personal, nonmaterial gifts that we'll hold forever; those from friends or family, or perhaps a special trip, or the ideas from a teacher or even a book that influenced you.
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