The Best & Worst in People

Tonight was the Christmas potluck at our church group. Tons of good food was shared and everyone had a good time (there were probably at least 30 people there).

After our stomachs digested for a little bit, we continued the recent tradition of doing White Elephant gift exchange. We were supposed to bring wrapped gifts of under $10, put them in one pile, draw numbers, and take turns either picking a gift from the pile or stealing opened gifts of people before you.

The whole point of the game is to have a little fun, but I think one important premise was lost. The term white elephant refers to a "valuable possession which its owner cannot dispose of and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) exceeds its usefulness." So it's supposed to be something that you already have or isn't really worth that much in value.

Instead, most items that were actually brought/bought to this were pretty good in value - the most coveted items were gift cards (iTunes & Starbucks) as well as some women's lotions (among the women anyway). This was when things got nasty, as certain individuals plotted together to try to get themselves what they wanted, at the expense of others. Yes, stealing is part of the game (hence the other names for this game, like "Nasty Santa , Selfish Santa, or Thieving Secret Santa), but I don't think it would have been as bad if the items were not so high in value (i.e. the antithesis of what White Elephant is supposed to be).

Then there were those who sacrificed their better gifts to trade with those who got something pretty worthless to them, i.e. a true white elephant gift (e.g. lip gloss for a guy, Bounce fabric softener for someone who didn't want/need them).

Christmas is supposed to be about giving and receiving (for Christians, of God giving His one and only Son i.e. Jesus into this world and the world receiving what it does not deserve). However, it's become more and more self-centered and more consumeristic over the years. I saw both a genuine heart of wanting to give as well as self-centered consumerism today through White Elephant.