by Velma aka Shammah

Created on: December 24, 2009

Thinking about life, about today, about being alive; thinking about the saying you may have heard, “Life is a gift from G-d; my gift to Him is how I live that life;” and thinking generally about gifts, my thoughts now unfold before you.

Generally speaking, we all like to get gifts.  There are two kinds of gifts we can receive from someone; an expected gift, i.e. for a special occasion like a birthday, and yes even now, this time of the year called Christmas; we expect to receive a gift.  Then there are those rare occasions when out of the blue a loved one, a family member or a friend shows up with or sends you a gift – because, just because they might have seen something and it reminded them of you or because they were thinking of you and wanted to give you something special.

Now, think about those two types of gifts you receive and the differences in how you feel.  I don’t know about you, but for me there is a vast difference and I dare to say for me, and possibly for you, those gifts that we receive out of the blue, well, they have a more profound impact on us than do those that we might anticipate or expect to receive!

Thinking about those rare occasions when I’ve received an unexpected gift and comparing them to the expected gift, even now my heart races in anticipation as I take out and receive the gift from your hands or open my mail box and see it there for the first time.  I suck in my breath exclaiming, “Wow!  What’s this? Who sent me this (if in the mail; those are even more exciting…just wondering who could sent it.) I wonder what it is?”  So, I take it in hand gently in case there is something breakable or fragile in the package. 

Turning inside, I find a place to sit and I checking the packaging for some indication of who sent it.  If there’s no return address, the excitement mounts.  I untie the string or remove the tape holding the brown, non-descript wrapping and then peel it away to yet another layer of colorful and festive paper crowned with a glistening silver bow.  It’s excitingly colourful, perhaps a wrapping decked with your favourite flower.  Mine is the rose, so my gift is wrapped in paper filled with full blossomed and budding roses.

I gently pick it up again and shake it ever so slightly to see if there’s any noise; any rattling to guess what’s inside.  Nothing.  I then lift it to my nose and

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