ALL DOLLS ARE THE RIGHT SIZE
Like most American kids, my little sister and I got toys and games for Christmas. Usually they were similar enough to satisfy my sister’s desire to be like me, and different enough to satisfy my conviction that I was six years older than she was.
I remember one particular Christmas when we were about six and twelve. We lived next door to my grandparents, and after a flurry of opening small gifts in our own house before our parents were even awake, we all went over to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for Christmas Breakfast. As my sister and I walked into the living room, we saw the final gift from our parents: two dolls sitting under the tree. We both stopped and looked at the dolls.
One of the dolls was much bigger than the other. Its soft plastic face had no particular expression, it shoulders slumped as if it carried the woes of the world, and its clothes were dull. The little doll, though ... she was beautiful! She had lovely eyelashes, a peaches-and-cream complexion, a pert expression, and much nicer clothes than I had ever had.
In our family, you didn’t necessarily get what you wanted, but you did necessarily want what you got. I swallowed and hid my disappointment, because I just knew that my parents had reasoned like this: big girl, big doll; little girl, little doll. I wanted that little doll, but I knew it had to be for my sister.
We walked over to the tree. The big doll was for my sister! The little doll was for me! We were both thrilled! Many, many years later, we were talking about those dolls, and my sister admitted that when we walked into the room, she wanted the big doll, but she just knew it would be for me. In fact, each doll was the right size.
The church in Corinth was having some trouble. Apparently some people thought their gifts were bigger than other people’s gifts. Paul told them that nothing could be further from the truth (1 Corinthians 12:1-30). Pay special attention to vss. 28-29. In Greek, Paul is clearly saying, “Not all are apostles, are they? Not all are prophets, are they?” and so on through the other gifts. Not all gifts are the same! But all gifts from God are the right size.
An Advent Prayer:
Dear Lord, this Christmas as I open my gifts, let each one remind me that every gift is perfect, because it is given to honor you, the giver of perfect gifts. Amen.
-- Regina Hunter
