The Seventh Day of Bringing Gifts – December 18, 2012
“On the seventh  day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…seven swans  a-swimming, six geese  a-laying,  five gold rings – four calling  birds, three  French  hens,  two turtle doves,  and a partridge  in a pear tree.”
Remember the tale of the Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen?  Misclassified  from birth, the duckling grows up with the heart  of a swan.  Once becoming strong under  the care of kind humans, the duckling is set free and finds its image  for the first time in a pool of water. The duckling is transformed into what it always was inside – a graceful  swan.
How well this tale reminds  us of our own inherent power  and beauty. Early Church  Fathers (and Mothers) considered seven gifts essential to living true to the image  in which  we’re created: wisdom, understanding, wonder and awe,  right judgment, knowledge, courage, and reverence.
Isn’t this quite  a stretch from a verse in a folk song whose lyrics first appeared in an eighteenth century  children’s book,  Mirth without Mischief? And isn’t the “ugly duckling” just something for children?  Jesus scolded his disciples for that kind of attitude. He said, “The kingdom of heaven belongs  to people like these children” (Matthew 19:14).  And the great prophet before  him said, “A little child shall lead them”  (Isaiah 11:6).
“Seven swans  a-swimming” speak  well of our need  for those seven gifts of the Spirit. These qualities help us see and express  our own inherent beauty. They are not qualities to be achieved but received! Just as the ugly duckling needed to receive  the care of others  before  it could  discover  its own grace and elegance, so do we.
This is what God gives us through  one another. I’m not as wise as I’m made  to be without  the guidance and support of others.  I’m not as understanding as I’m made  to be without  the understanding others  give me. And so with all the other gifts. These qualities may at heart  be ours, too. But we can’t know  and practice them  – without  help beyond ourselves.
In the spirit of our newborn Savior, in the Spirit of the help that awakens our own power  and beauty, may we give to help others  know  the same. 
According  to an annual study by a national financial institution, the cost of seven swans  a-swimming is approximately $6,300. To explore  the life-giving possibilities of a $6,300 gift to the Christmas  Fund for the Veterans  of the Cross and the Emergency  Fund, visit http://bit.ly/CF12_12_12-7.