- December 3, 2012
- 1:48 pm
- Raymond Benton Jr
- no comments
Christmas Gifting (ughhh!)
I don’t know if you like the way Sear’s has re-positioned the traditional “giving” to something they call “gifting”. I, myself, find it distastful. I mean, it is just an ugly word. Gifting. Very much the creation of some marketer, I am sure. In this time of both holiday celebrations and a drive toward sustainability I pass on to you this passage from Ralph Waldo Emerson. If you haven’t don’t your shopping for this season of “gifting” this may push you to consider an alternative. Several years ago — or, gee, many years ago — our daughter gave everybody hand made candles for Christmas. I still remember that present fondly. Emerson, I believe, was on to something. Whatever you do this “gifting” season, may it be Joyous for you and yours.
Dr. Benton
The
only gift
is a portion
of thyself. Thou
must bleed for me.
Therefore the poet brings
his poem; the shepherd, his
lamb; the farmer, corn; the miner,
a gem; the sailor, coral and shells;
the painter, his picture, the girl, a handker-
chief of her own sewing. This is right and pleasing,
for it restores society in so far to its primary basis, when a
man’s biography is conveyed in his gift, and every man’s wealth
is an index of his merit. But it is a cold, lifeless business when you go to the shops to buy
me something which
does not represent
your life and talent,
but a goldsmith’s.
Ralph Waldo Emerson