The gifts we need - a proposal.
Gift giving within the culture of American Consumerism is deeply troubling to me. Have we attempted to replace what we need with cheap, hollow, plastic substitutes that leave us feeling yet more hollow? Here’s what I need . . . and what I think we need: We need more love. We need more generosity – both sharing with others and receiving the kindness of others. We need more time to sit quietly with others – those we love and those we do not understand or do not know. We need more peaceable conversation with no agenda except coming into the awareness of one another and perhaps the Other. We need more quiet mornings, calm evenings. We need more walks in nature, more swimming in streams, and more time to watch-and-listen to leaves as they flutter in the wind. We need more hand peeled fruits and individually sliced fresh vegetables. We need more time to talk with one another and to sit in the stillness of shared space without words. W