Three Gifts for the Holidays

In the biblical Christmas tradition, three wisemen traveled to Bethlehem from the East. Following the path of a wandering star, they arrived at a stable in Bethlehem and offered symbolic gifts and worshiped a child they found there as the long-prophesized messiah.

While titles, names and biblical language translations shifted across the 20 centuries since the story began, whether called magi, astrologers, kings, or wisemen, their story endures because it is more than history—it is a metaphor of faith, humility, and generosity. Maybe the lesson of their willingness to go out of their way to bring gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh can be seen as their example of gratefully giving from their bounty for the respect and benefit of others.

In our time, gold, metaphorically can take many forms. It can be a few extra cans of soup, a bag of rice, or a financial donation that can help a local food pantry or church group help families in need. When we give our “gold,” we are not emptying our treasure; we are certainly multiplying its worth.

Frankincense is a fragrant gum from trees today mostly grown on the horn of Africa near Somalia and Ethiopia. It is burned in sacred rituals, symbolized blessing, and presence. Today, our frankincense can be the small kindnesses we release into the world: the gently used coat warming shoulders through winter, a pair of shoes enabling someone to walk confidently into a job interview, children’s books igniting imagination in little ones who have so little.

Thrift shops like The Lighthouse in Salisbury or Lazarus House in Lawrence can assure these offerings go to the people they serve in their communities every day. What we dust off from our closets becomes a blessing on someone else’s back and a reminder that even simple things can make a big impact.

The third gift was Myrrh, a balm used for healing, representing compassion in times of hardship. Many who turn to community services do so in moments of quiet struggle - an unexpected layoff, a medical bill, or a single month when ends simply don’t meet. Our modern myrrh is the gift of care: donating items that soothe, warm, and heal. Blankets, winter gear, or basic household essentials can restore a sense of stability to those weathering life’s storms. Donating these items is also an act of reuse, recycling if you want to think of it that way.

The story of the magi and the Christmas tradition of gift giving teaches us that gifts need not be spectacular; they need only be sincere. If each traveler brought what they could, small or large, our collective giving gathered from many hands can become our star for families navigating hardship during the winter.

When you deliver a bag of pasta to a food pantry or place a well-kept jacket on the thrift shop’s donation rack, you are participating in an ancient tradition of care. You are joining generations of our species who understood that gifts have power, not because they are expensive, but because they are shared.

Today, with many signs of need but no star to follow, we too can carry gifts that have the potential to change people’s lives. As an environmentally focused organization, ACES sees these gift giving behaviors as not only helping our fellow humans but our planet. Donated clothing and cans of food culled from the back shelf of your pantry that don’t go to landfill. The whole point of environmental thinking is that we are all on this spaceship called Earth, our home, and “mutuality” is something that will help us all. Give for the recipients, give for the Earth, and give for yourself this time of winter solstice and religious celebrations.

All of us at ACES wish you, your families, and your friends a happy and green holiday season. See you in the new year.

Meanwhile we invite you to stay updated on environmental matters by subscribing to our monthly newsletter on ACES’ website https://www.aces-alliance.org/. Please consider joining our community of stewards committed to Make Every Day Earth Day by contacting acesnewburyport@gmail.com Subscribe to our Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/acesalliancenbpt/ and Facebook  pages to stay informed.

This educational column was originally published in The daily News of Newburyport on December 19, 2025.