It was a cold winter night. Christmas was around the corner. Any moment now, I was going to open my gifts from the big guy with the white beard and the oversized belly who nobody ever saw except in the movies, at the malls, or maybe at the downtown pub... God bless him. My heart was eager, despite that I knew exactly what "Santa" was bringing me this holiday season. Yet, nothing quite prepared my heart for what Santa brought me thirteen days before Christmas. A thin, flat package from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital arrived in my mailbox unexpectedly. Upon opening the envelope, a nice tote bag greeted my eyes. Being I am a writer, my eyes automatically go to the words. "Finding cures. Saving children." were the luciferases of my inner light. If you don't know, the light a firefly produces is, in part, ignited by a chemical called luciferin, a bioluminescent enzyme. As I hugged the tote bag close, I asked myself why was it that this surprise felt a hundred times more special to me than all the Christmas gifts waiting for me under the Christmas tree? The answer was in THE GIFT of GIVING!
The gift of giving is a far greater blessing than that of receiving. The gift of giving is first and foremost a noble gesture. More than so, like a frisbee which does return, so do gestures of kindness. You may be a penny saver, watching carefully every little expense you have, shooting for goals meanwhile squeezing every dollar's green juice only to allocate each dollar to needs like food and a roof over your head. Or, you may be on the exact opposite spectrum of reality. You may be a heavy spender, spending lavishly and complaining to Santa you don't have enough to spend, which I hope that is NEVER you or anyone for that matter. Or, you could be Santa himself which I have mixed feelings about that so better not to comment or you might throw some coal down my imaginary chimney which would really piss me off since I work so hard to maintain cleanliness in my home. But, in all seriousness, there is a misconception in our society that needs to be revised. Please know that you don't have to be a millionaire, live in a mansion, have three cars in the garage, a poodle, and a summer house in Florida, etc., to be a giver. The gift of giving to St. Jude can be as small as $10 and I am not sharing this so to suggest that you should give to St. Jude but to paint for you a larger painting. My point is simple, don't let misconceptions determine what your mentality is going to be and what you will do in life. If you decide to give, understand the bigger picture of things and how giving could save someone's life or help someone in great need. If you give, give with a full heart. Don't give to impress but to help, for this way you will never regret you gave in the first place.
For me, having not had children of my own, giving to St. Jude felt not only like a blessing and joy but nearly an extension of my soul-life. There is so much blessing in this kind of gift giving. It's so much easier, I believe, to love your own kids than to be able or willing to love the kids of the world. This is also why I wrote and published, "The Velvety Bandit of Whisker-Witty-Whoville," because I did it for the children of the world and that love for the children of the world is unlike anything else I've known or will ever know. There is this almost transcendence into an extension of soul-life I feel I get knowing that my offering participates to a larger picture that may help a life. This alone is a priceless blessing. May you find joy in the gift of giving in your life this holiday season.
In the giving, your soul is lifted to the stars dancing in God's palm. Carmen A. Cisnadean
Author. Artist. Poetess.
