The ancient Romans — before the Christian Era — used to stage a week-long Festival of Saturnalia in mid-December in honor of the Roman god Saturn, during which they exchanged, not just gifts, food and wine, but much more intimate pleasures as well. It was one gigantic, week-long debauch that undoubtedly produced some monumental hangovers . . . and — if this depiction is even close to the real thing — the arrival of more than a few unplanned offspring before the Autumnal Equinox.

It would be many years before Christians began celebrating the birth of Christ in any way resembling our current traditions. But the 1st-century Roman philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca — a man intellectually ahead of his time — had the right idea when it came to the subject of gift-giving. Today we say that “it’s not the gift, but the thought that counts” . . . paraphrasing his words of some two millennia ago:

“A gift consists not in what is done or given,
but in the intention of the giver or doer.”

– Seneca, Moral Essays: Volume III

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As I sat here yesterday, beginning this year’s search for the perfect Christmas and Chanukah gifts for my family, Seneca’s words echoed through my mind. We live in uncertain economic times, and many of us are doing the best we can to make the holidays merry on a budget. So we should keep in mind that a pared-down holiday can be even more meaningful than an elaborate one because of the extra thought and care that has gone into it.

On the other hand, I’m not sure how Seneca would explain that to the ten-year-old nephew who was counting on his very own iPhone this year . . .

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/1/25