Re-gifting Love

 This morning I was thinking of the practice of re-gifting since I just did it yesterday.  It was a small flower arrangement containing two red roses in a blue glass gilded vase.  The flowers were leftover from a bouquet received earlier in the week.  The vase was from a moving sale and I had used it for home decor. I wanted to express gratitude and love to a neighbor with this small gift. 

It might have meant more had I purchased or made it myself. But my go to response when I have an inkling to give a gift to someone is to look around for something I already have that I am willing to part with. It's better if the item is something I really like and I'm willing to sacrifice.   

I am a notorious "re-gifter." In some circles, especially with my extended family, that is almost an unforgivable sin.  Mostly because they consider it extremely disrespectful to the giver of the original gift and believe I am disregarding  the relationship.  Since I did not treasure their gift, I must not treasure them. Objects are mere symbols of love.

I love symbols!  And I love people!  But I cannot afford to keep every single thing loved ones make or buy for me. That would not only require more space than I currently have and certainly put me in the hoarder category. Nor can I afford the time or money for original, handmade, personally procured tokens of love every single time I want to reach out to someone. 

I don’t feel shame for this recent re-gift. Especially considering the circumstances in which it was given.  Last week, completely out of the blue, a young mom in the neighborhood sent me a text saying she would like to bring me dinner.  I thanked her for the good will and invited her to come visit when she dropped off the food. 

From this visit, I learned this gal had a revelation and felt compelled to act on.  She explained that Heavenly Father told her that "Erin OMalley" needed dinner.  She had never met me and didn't know who I was.  After finding my name in the ward directory, she knew it was extremely random, even strange, to reach out, but did it anyway.  We later learned that I had spoken to her husband earlier in the day when he was tending to his two children in the nursery. 

 As she told me about her impression, I teared up, not because I needed her food, but because Heavenly Father knows me by name and is aware of me and my insignificant, little life.  He is concerned and cares enough to send a messenger of that love.  I viewed the gesture as a small token of something much grander-God's love.

So if God is giving me a gift of love, I'm going to take that exact same gift of love and give it to someone else.  As in Matthew 8:10, "freely ye have received, freely give."  Objects are mere symbols of love. Love is the greatest treasure. I will gladly , I will symbolically, re-gift His love.  

Celebrity Encounter

 I've met some amazing "Mormon" celebrities in my lifetime- Donny Osmond, Steve Young, Cam Clarke, Janice Kapp Perry, and Brad Wilcox come to mind.   You may or may not be familiar with these accomplished, influential members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  But last week, meeting Thomas Wirthlin McConkie was one of my all time favorite celebrity encounters. I also want to acknowledge the hand of the Lord and not attribute this chance encounter as sheer coincidence.  Heavenly Father knows me.  He sees me.  He knows my heart and what I think is important.  God is aware of me!   He notices. And He knows what is going on with my family.  

It was a taxing weekend watching the grandchildren.  I had lots of physical support from other family members but still managed to strain my chest lifting little ones and receive a speeding ticket on my commercial driver's license.  That Sunday, we brought the two grandchildren to the neighborhood ward to get the contact info for the bishop and request my son's records be moved.   Having the sacrament bread tray batted down and launched by the baby wasn't a good sign, but we made our presence known.  It was then off to nursery.

As providence would have it, the Bishop's wife just so happened to be the nursery leader that day.  It was so helpful to get all the contacts through her and learn about the history and current climate of the ward.  When playing with the babies, I noticed a father playing with his daughter to provide some emotional support while talking to the other leaders.  As she started playing near me, the father stood up, getting ready to go to his own Sunday School class.  I immediately recognized him and I stated, "I know YOU!  You're Thomas McConkie! I then proceeded to thank him for his book, At One Ment: Embodying the Fullness of Human Divinity

As I spoke about the personal impact of his work, I started to tear up and get emotional.  His book was so important to me that a couple years ago I centered my whole family Christmas around it.  I wrote a poem and song about it.  I watched a ton of podcasts on YouTube where he was the featured speaker.  I still listen to his meditations regularly to settle my mind and heart.  His work is such a bridge to unite people of all faiths and various personal beliefs.  In the last two weeks, I felt inspired to refer someone who was struggling with their own faith to check out his book...and she did!  This random guy in the nursery was important to ME!  

And the kicker, He even gave us his personal phone number and offered to reach out to my son and talk to him as a neighbor.  AND my son was open to that idea since he sounded like a "cool Mormon."  Talk about potential for life changing experiences!  This has all the makings.  Of course, it could also have absolutely no impact on my son.  I know the Christmas book gift a couple of years ago was neither understood or appreciated.   It was a dud gift.  But I had to light the fuse anyway because...I felt lit up!

I still do.   His work fuses some of the subjects I am most passionate about-mental health and spirituality.  I want to understand it better.  I want to live it.  I'm not trying to "fan girl" out on Thomas McConkie.  He's not a prophet or anything.  In fact he emphasizes the importance of seeing self in our judgmental praise or criticism of other people.  He writes:

Notice when you feel reactive to other people and any of their qualities that you have judgments         about.  Not just the negative judgments but the positive judgments too.  Practice saying,  "That's me."  Then in a very earnest way, find that very quality in yourself.  Someone's anger, someone's pettiness, someone's powerful presence, compassion, and selfless service:  "That's me."  

Though he is related to Bruce R. McConkie and the grandson of the late apostle, Joseph B. Wirthlin, I do not need to give strict heed to his words.  However,  his words are worth reading and worth listening to.  His words can assist me in my own quest to make inspired choices.