December 11 – “On White Elephants”

So what is the deal when you get invited to a White Elephant Party?  It's my understanding that originally the whole point was to wrap up something you already have that you don't particularly want.  That's what a white elephant is.  Unless, of course you are referring to some kind of rare albino creature in Africa or India or a zoo or wherever elephants live and have baby elephants that get born with huge ears that make it able to fly or with different a color of skin (is it called skin on an elephant?).  The thing that makes it different makes it less valuable to the group and hence the group doesn't really want it around.  So they make fun of it and call it names and don't let it play in any special elephant games.  Does any of this sound vaguely familiar to anyone else?    OK.  So from those roots we get the Christmas White Elephant Party.  That's when everyone just brings some kind of random wrapped gift, they are all thrown under the tree, and one at a time a person from the group opens one while everyone watches.  Then if the next person in line likes that gift, he can simply take it instead of unwrapping one himself.  Invariably one of three things happens.    1.  No one wants to "steal" a nice gift.  Wouldn't want to hurt somebody's feelings, right?  Especially if you would be the first one to do it.  That's too risky.  So everybody unwraps one, keeps what he got, and all go home, some somewhat disappointed, others elated, and no one particularly has a sense of having had fun.    2.  Or the one really good gift changes hands so often that a special rule has to be made up that one gift can only be in three different people's hands.  After that it is frozen.  At least in this case strategy comes into play, along with alliances and promises.  It becomes a microcosm of a TV reality show, which is supposed to be a microcosm of life, isn't it?  And we all go home feeling philosophical.  And kind of angry that we never got a chance at the "good stuff."   3.  Or none of the gifts is particularly appealing in the first place.  Ah, sad, but true.  In many cases the gifts turn out to be really and truly junk.  How could anyone really wrap up an old vacuum cleaner motor?  Or a broken broom?  Or a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle with only 497 of the pieces included?  Now you have to be careful with "prizes" like that.  For sometimes the Unknown Wrapper sneaks in a tiny surprise for the unsuspecting recipient.  Maybe a five dollar bill rolled up and stuffed into an obscure corner.  Or perhaps a gift card hidden in the pages of a 300 page coffee table book on the Mating Habits of Transitory Egyptian Butterflies.  You never know.   Sometimes groups set a price limit on white elephant purchases.  That's a subtle way of telling everyone not to bring real unvalued junk, so everyone can leave with the idea that he at least got $5 worth of recently purchased junk.  In places where the parties are customary year after year, and the group members often remain the same, it is a lot of fun to rewrap one particular gift and have it reappear and find a new home for the year.  Kind of like a traveling trophy.  I remember a certain grass skirt that fell into that category at one time.    Oh.  Here's an interesting White Elephant custom that is apparently not universal.  At some of the parties, after the grand opening time and before they leave for home, the guests discreetly hide their White Elephant treasures in the house of the host so that they can be blessed with an abundance of cheer as the discover them over the course of the days and weeks to come.    We are going to a White Elephant Party next Wednesday.  And we have some white elephants coming over here next Thursday.  Time to start scrounging around to see what we can find that will truly "bless" someone.  Right.   James 1:17 says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."   Father, thank you for showing us over and over what a "good gift" looks like.  Amen.