These Gifts Are Better Than Toys

by Steve Henderson

Original - Sold

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Not Specified

Dimensions

24.000 x 24.000 inches

Title

These Gifts Are Better Than Toys

Artist

Steve Henderson

Medium

Painting - Oil On Panel

Description

Although Christmas, like any holiday that has the potential to make money, is easily commercialized, we all know – in the back of our minds if not at the front of our hearts – that the season of giving is more than about stuff, shopping, and the pressure of attending one holiday party after another.

The artwork, These Gifts Are Better Than Toys, focuses on this concept of giving – and receiving – gifts that are greater than anything we could find in a box store or at a huge online retailer. The consummate gift-giver of traditional lore, Santa Claus, is in his workshop, working on a project.

Santa’s project, however, is not a toy, it is not a doll, it is not a train set, and it certainly isn’t some form of electronic gadget. The project upon which Santa places so much concentration is a Nativity Set, reminding us that the true gift behind Christmas is one that we cannot buy.

Rarely outside of religious connotations do we mention the word, “Jesus,” as if it were something embarrassing, or something that is whispered in mixed company, but Jesus really is the focus around what we call the Nativity Set. After all, whose nativity are we talking about?

Perhaps the word “Jesus” is rarely used because it has been so frequently misused – to justify wars, condemnation, separation, and pressure upon people to think, speak, and act a certain way. For this reason, it’s not bad to go back to the Nativity Set and see Jesus as a babe – gentle, beautiful, gracious, even helpless – this latter a reminder of who we are as humans, and how we rely, not just when we are babies, upon those who are stronger than us – especially God – to protect us when we are vulnerable.

Santa gets this. He gets that the gift of Christmas isn’t something we can buy, invest in, or force upon others. It is indeed a valuable gift, one that is much better than any toy a human can create.

Featured on 36 Fine Art America groups.

Uploaded

April 26th, 2017

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