Not a Good Way at All, In Fact

“Picture our various theologies of this folly on Christmas morning. If you open a gift and churlishly refuse to thank the giver of it, then—in our little illustration—you are an atheist. But how, in this regard, is it better to be the pietist and to smash the gift to pieces ‘lest it tempt you away from your devotion to the giver’? I can pretty much guarantee that such pietism would not fly if I tried it on my wife. She would say, in that sensible way of hers, that smashing gifts is not the best way of showing gratitude” (Writers to Read, p. 120).