CHRISTMAS WITH A TWIST OF LEMON (or Some Lemon Zest) Pt2

"Ave Christus, morituri te salutamus!"

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends." (John 15:13/NKJV)

     H owever Della's frugality and grit are not all we see with this introduction. We also begin to see some of her daily devotion and the daily giving of her own life that was mentioned in my previous post about this story. Furthermore, if we continue on we see the importance of this modest sum of money; "One dollar and eighty-seven cents." and we understand Della's response to it;

"There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it. Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating. "
                                                                                       The Gift of the Magi

     A fter all, "...the next day would be Christmas", and what could be more disheartening then to have worked so hard to be able to provide something special for someone we truly love and fall short of obtaining that goal? It is in her response that we see a hint of what is clearly mentioned later;

"Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him. Something fine and rare and sterling--something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim."                                                                                        The Gift of the Magi

     I t is in this little snippet we see the love and honor Della has for Jim, we see there is joy not in something for herself, but in something for the one she loves; "Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him.". We see the value she has placed on Jim as it is something she feels needs to be worthy of him; "Something fine and rare and sterling--something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim." We begin to see the delight of Della as she sees the happiness and surprise on Jim's face as she thinks of the moment when he is presented with her expressions of love and devotion. Again, we truly see daily devotion and the daily giving of life.

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,...So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself...Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband." (Ephesians 5:25,28,33/NKJV)

"Simul iustus et peccator"*
*Martin Luther

*NOTE; for other short stories by O. Henry go here

scripture sources;
Bible Gateway
image source;
The Gift of The Magi (bookcover)