by Raffael A. Ferri PhD

Created on: January 03, 2010

Some articles warrant much less than 400 words; this one in particular, can be amply answered with a simple, "No."  If explanation is necessary, then perhaps the one asking the question requires a lesson in giving and receiving. There are several sides to the gift giving at Christmas; however, there are none in regards to returning or exchanging gifts. This concept originated with the greedy and malcontent. Should you decide to choose the "Wise men" theory as the origin of gift giving, then surely you would agree that it would have been rather absurd for the "Virgin Mary" to refuse or exchange the gifts from the wise men. Choosing the story of St. Nick, a monk who decided to give to those who had nothing, then imagine a soul with nothing, turning down a gift. I believe that the question itself is absurd. If you already have what is given to you as a gift, then pass that gift on to someone who doesn't have it. The fact that someone gave you a gift does not allow him/her (the giver) to instruct the receiver how to use it. The gift is the thought, the merchandise is an extension of that thought, nothing more.

Recentyl I watched a program on Avonlea, where a little boy had gone through a lot of trouble in putting together a bird-house for a girl that he admired. She made it known in the classroom one day, that she was fond of birdhouses. The next day it was rumoured that a boy from a rich family was going to visit the small town of Avonlea, where apparantly his mother had grown up. In the story, the girl was smitten by the rich boy and tried her best to make acquaintance with him. In the meantime, she shunned her schoolmate friend and in doing so, she hurt his feelings. On her birthday, her schoolmate friend brought his bird-house and gave it to her. She looked at it for a moment and then put it aside as her rich friend came over and handed her an envelope with a one-dollar bill (a lot at that time). She was awed and showed much appreciation for the dollar and nothing for the birdhouse. As it turned out, she bought candy with the dollar and hung the bird-house on her front porch. The candy was long gone, but the bird-house was home to humming-birds for several seasons. This actually answers two questions; one of course is the effort in making the bird-house is much more important than the simple giving of something you have plenty of, and the other answer is to the original question of this essay. When someone gives you money and you buy something else with it, isn't that the same as exchanging a gift?

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