Greatest Gifts

New Jersey. Drought-resistant wheat seeds. The Trojan Horse. The World Wide Web. Human freedom. Penicillin. A green bike. Jesus Christ.

 What do the items in this list, as diverse as they are, have in common?

 All are gifts.

 Maybe the greatest gifts in history.

 New Jersey was given as a present in 1665 by the Duke of York to two royalists, Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley. Fortunately, the territory did not remain in their hands; it reverted to the English crown in 1702, and later became part of the United States. If the land had not been returned, the descendants of Carteret and Berkeley would now be in control of nearly nine million people and a half-trillion-dollar economy. Not to mention Princeton University, the New York Giants, the New Jersey Turnpike and Chris Christie.

 Another great gift was much smaller, but was equally significant. A man named Norman Borlaug developed tiny wheat seeds that were resistant to drought and disease. These seeds were planted across Latin America and South Asia, and ended up feeding more than one billion people. They also put many poor countries on the road to self-reliance.

 Clearly, good things come in small packages.

 Another significant gift was The Trojan Horse. Well, maybe it was not such a terrific present for the Trojans, since Greek soldiers hid inside the horse and then conquered the city of Troy. However, the destruction of Troy led to the foundation of Rome and the Roman Empire, which had a profound effect on Western civilization.

 How about the present Tim Berners-Lee gave to the world? Tim Berners-who, you ask. He gave us the World Wide Web, says economist Paul Collier, choosing to make it a public good instead of a personal source of income. The benefits to people around the world have been tremendous.

 The idea of human freedom. This has been America's gift to the world, from Thomas Jefferson to Abraham Lincoln to Martin Luther King, Jr. Freedom for all people has always been the guiding light of our foreign policy. When we are true to ourselves, freedom is what America is all about.

The greatest gift given by God is Jesus. He has meant freedom as many human beings have found their liberation for self-destructive forces in Jesus. He has meant peace with God with others, for those who travel his path. He has meant reconciliation for those who accept the challenge.