The elders of our church used to have a Christmas party each year, and one of the customs was to pass along the prize “white elephant”. It was singing bass you hung on the wall. Any time someone passed by, that fish would sing – loudly. It was good for a laugh at the party. And I’m sure some hung it on the wall just for fun, for a week or two, and then wrapped it for the next recipient.
Sometimes a hand-me-down piece of furniture can be a white elephant even when gifted by a loving relative who wants to help furnish your home. If that old black Naugahyde couch isn’t in the living next visit, there is a moment of shock and then hurt. Where is it? That couch was high quality. It would have lasted years. Or the heirloom paintings done by the Dad you love who was bored with retirement and decided to become an artist. Why isn’t that seascape hanging over your fireplace for all to see? I love you dearly, Dad, but you should have stuck to painting walls.
White elephant gifts are a blast when everyone knows what’s coming and it’s a competition of whose gift is the most outrageous. A taco blanket. A unicolor puzzle of cubes. A neon pink sequin pillow with lips in the middle. One gentleman we know was given an airline barf bag. Word got out and his friends brought back a bag every time they traveled. United. Delta. Blue Skies. You name it, he had a bag with a logo on it. He ended up with an extensive collection.
I’ve shared about Rick taking our elder son to Alaska to fish. Well, our son caught the prize salmon. I mean a HUGE salmon. Over fifty pounds! Wowza! When I heard about it, I couldn’t wait to see the pictures. Can you imagine giving our son a beautiful 11X14 photo of him standing beside his catch? And think how many cans of salmon that prize would have filled?
Dad did one better. He had it stuffed. I think it’s a man thing to have a trophy hanging on the wall. Every woman would just love to have a huge fish hanging over the mantel. Right?
I apologized to my daughter-in-law. Of course, our son is proud of that catch, but I told him if he ever gets tired of looking at that salmon or his wife says a change of décor would be welcome, he can give it to a seafood restaurant. The Tides, maybe, where they have a sword fish, a tuna and king crab already mounted on the wall.
I’m so thankful our Lord doesn’t give us white elephants. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights. And each, something for which to give a sincere thank You.