Philip’s Birthday

I gave,

To a friend that I care for deeply,

Something that I loved.

It was only a small

Extremely shapely bone

That come from the ear

Of a whale.

It hurt a little

To give it away.

The next morning

I went out, as usual,

At sunrise

And there, in the harbor,

Was a swan.

I don’t know

What he or she was doing there,

But the beauty of it

Was gift.

Do you see what I mean?

You give, and you are given.

I have always liked the idea of a potlatch – an indigenous custom of North America where a family gives away possessions in celebration and in gratitude. So too I have heard of people who on their own birthdays, give gifts to others.  One day when I came up to a national park entrance the car ahead of me, whose passengers were strangers to me, paid for the entrance. Another time a car ahead of me in a toll both paid for me.  Wow.   What if any time we felt gratitude or some good news came our way, we started looking for multiple possessions we might offer to others?  Or maybe every day we made it a goal to give something away?  What gifts indeed might come to us and our world.

What will you gift today?  Or be gifted with?