The greatest gift I get each day is the chance to laugh with my family. Am I that greedy and mean-spirited to put the value of some toy above that? Are you? Of course not. Presents are one-shot expressions of joy. Some will be appreciated forever. Some will go straight into the back closet. Whether they are an expensive new video game or an ashtray made from Silly Putty, none of them will outshine the love behind them. I'm not saying you shouldn't try to find the perfect gift. Just don't give yourself a heart attack or get yourself into a car wreck over it. You'll be taking away something far more precious than whatever you might have bought.

This is another thing I don't get. How did we come to the place where all of our focus on giving and celebrating love occurs on one fricking day? A day that was pulled out of a hat by a Pope over a thousand years ago, because he wanted to find a way to convert pagans but still let them have the mid-winter festival they were already celebrating? Yes, we're celebrating the birth of Jesus by giving each other presents on his supposed birthday. But if all you do is focus on one day, you miss the point entirely.

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?"

Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the prophets hang on these two commandments."

Amen.

Merry Christmas.

And chill the hell out, ok?