The Gift: Juiced, Weighted, Rigged…or Crystal Clear, Unambiguous, Undisguised?

Gifts are a wonderful expression we have the opportunity to be a part of!  Especially now, they are needed in relationship exchanges around the globe.  So many people have basic human needs that are unfulfilled or just barely being met because of such challenging economic conditions.

At the same time, such burgeoning inequality is dangerously pervading our social structures due to the poor economic conditions everywhere.  We should be hopeful about the giving and receiving of gifts, yet discerning at the same time.  So here is my question(s), which relates of course, to respect.

When we give gifts to one another, however small or large, has anyone pondered how our act of giving and the intention within it, affects our ability to respect ourselves, and thus, the receiver of our gift?

Here are some relationship wonderings!

According to Ted Williams in his book, Animal Wise, Copperhead is a poisonous snake without rattles, is quicker and more aggressive than the rattlesnake and strikes without warning! Copperhead is a teacher of sensitivity and the use of it in discerning energy and consciousness. These two mates I came upon while hiking one day.

How can I feel appreciated if you only give to me to satisfy something in you?  Have you told me of your need in your giving to me, so we both have an opportunity to value our exchange openly?

How can you feel appreciated if you feel obligated to give to me, or you want something from me and only give me a gift with the intent to conceal what you want to take from me?  How can I feel like exchanging any relationship value with you, if I’ve discovered I’ve been “had”  by you?  Doesn’t our conscience, and thus self respect have the potential to be  affected by guilt,  if you’ve deceived me with your act of gift giving and I thus have deceived myself by believing that what you’ve given to me has been sincerely meant by you?

The Gift

One day, I happened upon the gift of a "Sundog." The photo inspires movement, a sense of our earthly manifestations in the vegetation being given a gift by His clouds! The feeling of I must be doing something right pervades when I am given the gift to see something out of the ordinary with the naked eye.

When we give gifts to one another
With true compassion and sincerity
Minus any emotional tethers
Beneath our colorful wrappings of paper,
Then happy is the receiver,
Who has the opportunity to feel
Cared for and respected by us, the giver.

Happy is the giver,
Who has given oneself
The gift of respect
By giving to someone
Without expectation, or any such personal condition
Where guilt has been given a chance
To flavor the interaction
By such clouds and fog of control or manipulation,
Deception, seduction or obligation. 

A sunrise shrouded in the winter scape of a cold, silent and obscure daybreak. What will the day be like?

A gift given and received in transparency,
Makes for the opportunity
Of lasting relationship
Between both parties.

When we make choices such as these,
We all of a sudden realize
Through our very own soul’s teaching,
Just how much more we continue to receive.

Respect has a chance
To blossom in every direction,
Our own,
And those with whom we are exchanging.

Carnations. These are fabulous flowers with a wonderful clove like spicy scent! They last for a good month with a change of water and a short blunt cut to the stems.

God blesses all of us
When we choose transparency
In our giving and receiving.
May we be filled with His light
In our exchanging.

©2012 Cindy Eksuzian, all rights reserved.

An Odyssey Woven In Poetry And Photographs

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“Walking On His Footstool,”  

A trail from individuation to divine respect.

For more information, visit my “About Me” page.  Or, click on the picture and be directed to my website.