Give wisdom for Christmas.

Have you started looking for that worthwhile Christmas gift yet? Some people wait till the eve of Christmas Eve to scurry to the stores to shop. Then there are the few highly organized souls, so I am told who have long ago completed their Christmas shopping. Their New Year's resolutions and what to give up for Lent are already decided upon, too. And they are now, no doubt, in the process of purchasing their Easter wardrobe.

For the rest of us, here's a suggestion that just might work both for the believers and the searchers on your Christmas list. It's the book Wisdom of the Carpenter by Ron Miller (Seastone).

The subtitle describes this book accurately and concisely: "365 Prayers and Meditations of Jesus from the Gospel of Thomas, Lost Gospel Q, Secret Book of James and the New Testament."

Wisdom of the Carpenter contains a page for every day of the year. Each page is divided into three parts: a saying attributed to Jesus, a brief meditation on the saying, and a prayer. This book's charm is its brevity. The Jesus sayings are brief. The author also wastes no words. His reflections and prayers are focused and to the point. Yet each page resonates with wisdom reminiscent of the expansive nature of Henry David Thoreau's succinct aphorisms and the concise proverbs r the Old Testament.

Miller's Use of non-canonical gospel texts alongside the more familiar canonical texts in Wisdom is both intriguing and refreshing. For too long these texts have languished obscurity: Recently Elaine Pagels' book Beyond Belief." The Secret Gospel of Thomas (featured in U.S. CATHOLIC, September 2003) helped to bring these intriguing documents the early Christian Church to light.

Readers unfamiliar with the texts will have their curiosity peaked by their inclusion in Wisdom, and might then want to investigate and understand their place in the early church and in the wisdom literature the world's great spiritual traditions.

Miller also reflects on what might be tit actual words of Jesus. Since there were no tape recorders, it's difficult to say, but Miller believes he has used sayings that capture "Jesus' authentic voice. Can't do much bet hart that.

Wisdom is both an inspirational and use gift. Its day by day presentation encourages readers to dip into it a page at a time and spend some time thinking about what they have encountered. I also like the book because there is just enough room on almost every page to write one's own thoughts and reflections after hearing Jesus' voice and re ing Miller's insight and prayer.

Even for the ultra-organized who have already completed their shopping, this book would make a great gift t new church member, a confirmand, or a spiritual wisdom seeker. And for the vast majority of us who have yet to at tack the annual hunt for Christmas gifts, Wisdom of the Carpenter can ease our quest for worthwhile gifts.

PETER GILMOUR ([e-mail]) teaches at the Institute Pastoral Studies of Loyola University Chicago.