"May I help you, lady?" said the sales clerk.

"Well, I want to buy something for my sweetheart and I don't know what I want."

"Did you have anything in mind at all?" asked the clerk.

"I know this -- I want something that will last and something that he can take with him. It should be something useful."

"How about a watch?" said the clerk.

"No, he has a good watch and that is more than I can afford at this time anyway."

"Perhaps a key chain or key case would be good," suggested the clerk.

"Let me see what you have. At least that is the right idea. It would be useful and frequently in his hands."

The lady said to herself, "I want my love to be in his hands and my presence to be felt wherever he goes and I want it to be a useful love. That is what I want my gift to represent."

Christmas indeed, is a time when we seek to express our love even as God seeks through the gift of Jesus to express his useful love, which endures to all generations. Love cannot give a gift, which is destructive or detrimental to health or happiness. Love came down at Christmas and echoes through the loving kindness which man gives to man in his awareness of God.

The lady was choosing her gift wisely. It was not the price that mattered but the presence of love that determined the preciousness of the gift.