What gifts to get for your loved ones--something without anything in return!

I whole heartedly agree with the thought and the contribution from Eknath. These days, we tend to have less time for our loved ones; therefore, we usually get things for them regardless their real needs. By doing so, we feel less guilty....

I personally love making others happy by doing things for them--cooking or baking or making things that are unique and special for my loved ones. Yet, I need to give TIME, my personal time, for them!!!!!

Here is the great thought and wonderful contribution from Eknath I would like to share with my readers.

Enjoy!

Give all thou canst; high Heaven rejects the lore
Of nicely-calculated less or more.
– William Wordsworth


This morning, when I was reading an important New York paper, I noticed an article on the dynamics of gift-giving. This article quoted a distinguished professor of sociology as saying that in every gift there is a reciprocal relationship, even if it is not conscious. In other words, when you are making a gift, you are expecting a gift in return.

Not only that, there are very subtle social gradations: gifts to longtime friends, to recent friends, to acquaintances, to possible benefactors. All these factors come into play when choosing the gift. No wonder shopping for gifts is so terribly time-consuming. No wonder people feel confused and inadequate about what to give.

But the spiritual approach is very simple. Whatever you give – it may be a check to a worthy cause, it may be clothes to a person who is cold, it may be food to the hungry, it may be medical help to the sick – do it without thinking of getting anything in return. Do it as a service to God, not reluctantly, but with joy.