I
o say
Mo t of ould like to
give people we love the per­
fect ,ift - one that ow we
truly care. Yet too often, we
imply rush to get the tas
done.
But take beart. Here are
ome tip that ill make gift­
iving a joy for you and the
recipient:
1. Ma e lure the gift has
special meaning for the
recipient. As you consider
gift po sibilitie • a k your-
elf what is important to the
re ci p ie nt , Acknowledging
and ccepung wh t another
person value can be gift in
itself. .
One hu b nd gave hi wife
large wooden dollhouse for
their 18th wedding anniver­
ary. He'd heard his wife talk
often about the dollhou e
8yM
Nicolas Shares The True
Mellnin, of Christmas: For
the top gospel duct, Nicolas
(composed 'of the hu band
and wife team=-Brende and
Phil Nicolas), the holiday
arc more than a time for
family and sharing. but
Christma i al 0 a time of
giving to the hungry and
needy through a program im­
plemented through their
church .•
"What we do." Phil say,
"is that each (amily 'in the
c h u r c h fee 'd s a ram i I Y 0 r
gives a present to omebody
in th community. Our mini­
, ter gets a list of needy
people and he has each fami­
ly or need placed on an in­
dividual card. and he hands
out the cards right around the
Iirst eek in December.
It might say. Iamily of four
needs food, and the family
that icts that card � ill ad­
dress the need. Becau e a
our minister point out it's
not our hi rthda ys, but Je u '
b i r thd ay. and e can give
Christ a gift by helping tho e
lc 'fortunate,
Giving hack what Christ
has 'I en U' 0 freely."
Chi trnas is even more pe­
cial for the pair, who have
had a great deal of succe
with .ihe ir go 'pel balladsva
it is the time vhen Phil a ked
Brenda', h nd in marriage .•
Crisis I n The Cuth olic
Church : A the m mher hip
ot the Catholic Church con­
tinue,' to grow, the numbers
of pri us continue to drop
harply, a. it ha become h r­
der and harder to recruit
youn er men into the prie t-
ho d, nd man mong it'
youthful ran 0 prie t quit.
The , t ti tic reveal tha t
over the la t 30 year ,the
numb r 0 tho e training to
become prie t have dropped
9 , according to the U,S.
Catholic Conference. One of
the major contributor to the
she'd always wanted a a
child but had never receivec.
His wife called the dollho e
the "mo t sen itive gift she
h d ever received."
2. Be alert for a lift that
the recipient may want
without realizing it. The key
to gift-giving i to pay atten­
tion through the year to
casual comments. Jot down
gift ideas that come out of
conver alion with family
member or fri nd .
SOMETIMES YOU MAY
know more about a person's
real need than he or he
does. One high chool
gr du te received a Dale Car­
negie Course from his da�.
("Can you imagine how un­
derwhelmed 1 was. 1 wanted a
c r!") But th t course. the
GOSPEL
decline is the church's
celibacy requirement.
Fact i s , mo t other
religiou sect point to a
steady rise in eminary en­
rollment. However, the
Vatican is holding f st to the
celibacy rule. To make up for
the hortagcs, the 'church has
been forced to make due with
lay pastor -mosdy nuns-in
some areas. Even with this,
there i no move me nt mward
the ordination of � omen.
In. tead the�y have resorted
to ncar ecular recruitment
practiccs,- everything from
Madi on Avenue recruitment
tactic to direct mail cam­
paigns, in their que t for a
few good men.
Briefly: The Winans were
voted the top he st gospel
group (for their current
album. IJRclurn") at the
recently-held Brd Annual
NAACP Image Award', held
recently i n, Los Angeles.
Go pel legend Rev. James
Cleveland. who i . till in fail­
ing health. received a Special
Image Award.
Lawyer for PTL founder
Jim Bakker, who i currently
'erving out his pri 'on' en­
renee. are nov argui ng that
he ho uld have rc c ivcd at
horter entence in accord­
ance ith federal sentencing
guidel i ne for cri me com­
mi ted after ov. 1. t 987. 0
word yet on \ hether or not
this ar umcru \ ill prove _ef­
fective In hortening his
pre c n t ·cntence. In the
meantime. hi cellmate is
none other than politician
Lyndon La Rouchc, \! ho was
found guilty of tax fraud.
Thi e ek ' c ripture :
"For the word of God i
living and active. Sharper
than an) double-edged
word, it penetrate e en to
div idin oul and plrit ,
joints and marro ; it jud es
the thou ht and attitude of
the heart, "-Hebrew 4: 12.
son i no convinced. gave
him the skill, be needed to
become a profe ion I
spe ker. .
3. Offer your time or
talent. A gift thlt shines with
your individual effort will be
appreciated in way the most
.expensive jewel never can
m tch.
One woman organized her
mother' 100 e photo and
labeled and pa ted everyone
into an lbum for her
mother's 65th birthday.
Another wom n gave her
tepmother, with whom she
h d a omewhat strained
relation hip a teen-ager, a
book of certificate for such
thing as a wee, • . grocery
shopping. ironing and. break­
fa t in bed. "They were
things she could do for me to
mak up for the years whe
we id not hav mother­
dlug ter relatio hip," the
tep other expla ned.
4. Be on lim . Old and
youn people ali need to be
rem mbered 0 time for
birt days and pecial an­
nive sarie. E en when
you' e pre sed or time, it
takes ju t a quic phone call
to arrange a pee I dinner at
a favorite re t
order something
order catalog th t promise
over ight deliver .
keeping a boo of ice cream.
coupons lit work.
One m n likes to surpri e
hi wif at work with
delivery 0 a single rose a an
"I love yo " gesture.
A spon aneous gift that ac­
knowledg sand encour ge a
new stag in sorneone ' life
can be ve y re ssuring. One
wqman, fullti me mother,
took up painting. Soon he
wa invited to particip te in a
local art show. An
anonymou buyer took one of
her works. Two months later,
she sa the painting h nging
in her husband's office. He
. had purc�a ed it to encourage
her.
Even a imple gift can be
profound.
CO CERT TO BE E IT MICHl
'r ndr i er wa held recently to be
Every
season
Continued rro P e 5
ding the fabric of our com­
munity through poverty, un­
employment, I ck quality
education, mid-education,
inadequate housing, poor
health c re , drug, ten­
sion/conflict, fratricide and
premature death.
Afric n Amcric n are
not inherently violent.
Our youn people re
turning to violence bee use
Afric n Americans are
being violated by a violent,
ociety. Poverty i violence.
Hunger is violence. Jobless­
ness is violence. Ignorance
is violence. Neg le ct and
abuse is violence. Racism
and di crimination is
violence. African
Americans are not inherent­
ly criminals.
African Americans arc
'being warehoused in prisons
because we live in 8_
open eason of oppression
which afflicts the m scs f
our people and think bout
strategic nd acti ns to
m k e our people vho le
again.
Ron Daniels serv s as
President of the Instiu te for
Community Organiz lion
7(1
• Cooling
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• Tastes Great