There’s an odd sort of joy/frustration mix in any act of unwrapping. Will the gift be what I was hoping for? Will the avocado be perfect or brown? Any moment of unwrapping is a doorway, a place of possibility where hopes are dashed or exceeded.
How do you like to unwrap gifts? Are you a paper-tearer or one who opens carefully and tidily?
Advent marks a time of waiting, joyfully looking forward to a much-anticipated birth. So often we see waiting as a time of frustration, but imagining good things to come can hold as much pleasure as the things themselves.
When has a time of waiting been a gift?
“If nature has made you for a giver, your hands are born open, and so is your heart; and though there may be times when your hands are empty, your heart is always full, and you can give things out of that—warm things, kind things, sweet things—help and comfort and laughter—and sometimes gay, kind laughter is the best help of all.”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett
Who comes across to you as a natural giver? What have you learned from them?
Whether or not you have shopped and wrapped and ribboned, you come bearing gifts: your open heart, your willingness to listen, your stories, your calm presence or flair for the dramatic. Thank you for your gifts.
What unwrapped, unrecognized gift will you give today?
Today marks the first day of Muharram, the month of the New Year for Muslims. It is a time, not of partying and celebration, but of fasting. Every cycle brings something new and takes something away, and although various traditions mark the New Year at various times, in reality each day marks the beginning and the end of something.
What is new for you today? Does this new thing feel more like a gift or a loss?
