Transforming Gifts: The Power of Gratitude and Service

Margaret Visser has been a terrific book on gratitude called The Gift of thanks and she talks about precisely this issue and she says the reason that we wrap a gift a present is that we want to turn it from a commodity into a gift if I go to a store and buy a shirt and there's no particular special occasion for it and it's just for me myself to wear I do not wrap it up and then give it to myself and say what could this be oh my gosh it's just I give the clerk money the clerk gives me the shirt it's a transaction it's a commodity normally when we purchase stuff it's that way however sometimes we want to give somebody a gift and so the reason that we put wrapping paper around it is that we want to create some beauty. [00:02:07]

The reason that we wrap a present is to make it a gift to change it from a commodity to a gift, interestingly if people make something and send it to you often they don't feel the need to wrap it Margaret rice we have friends that among other things keep bees and so they make honey and we will sometimes get honey from them but they don't usually wrap it because when someone makes it you know that it was intended for you as a gift very often when we give somebody a gift we will also attach a card to it and we will put their name on it and maybe write some words because a gift comes from a giver and in order for it to be a true gift it has to express my good will towards you my desire to enrich enhance your life. [00:03:15]

We wrap gifts up because then it will be a surprise and one important Dynamic of gratitude is the more surprised we are when a gift comes into our lives the deeper our sense of gratitude. I don't know where it got started but when we exchanged gifts with each other as a family Nancy when she picks up a gift wrapped present will always purr like a kitten as though she thinks there is a kitten in the Box she has done that for 40 years and she laughs every time she accuses me of dad humor but she has been purring at presents for 40 years and thinks it is as hilarious as ever there's something about us that when we are surprised when something takes us off guard a bit of Wonder comes into it. [00:04:09]

There is something about not expecting about having the mind of a child about being open to surprise, there was a very powerful movie several years ago Philomena and it was about a woman who had lost her child had to put her child was forced to up for adoption when she was quite a young woman and she's trying to track him down now and she goes to search with a journalist and the journalist is quite bright but jaded and and kind of cynical and she is very simple-minded very good-hearted she loves kind of cheesy romance novels and she reads them and will tell him about him and the plot's always more or less the same there was a prince and he was engaged to marry a haughty princess and there was a humble seamstress making all their clothes and she loved them but she knew he was far above her but when the day of the wedding came it turns out he didn't love the beautiful hottie princess he loved the seamstress and then she would say I didn't see that coming. [00:05:26]

When we approach our life with a sense of openness and we remembered the mere fact that the sun came up yesterday does not make it any less wonderful that it came up again today, the mere fact that I woke up yesterday doesn't make it any less wonderful that I woke up again today, how can I have a sense of wonder and Marvel at it and so we want our gifts to be surprises for people at their best so we wrap our presence to turn a commodity into a gift. [00:06:51]

And of course the great Giver of gifts is our God who so loved the world that he gave his only son and we are told in words that would become quite famous that the Angels said to the Shepherds and this will be assigned to you you will find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, God came gift wrapped but was a commodity became a gift and by the way you don't get swaddling clothes at Neiman Marcus there were something that would be wrapped around a child born into an impoverished family there are no designer swaddling clothes and when God came he came wrapped up like that. [00:07:28]

It was interesting I was looking it up just getting ready to share this thought with you this notion of why we rap to make gifts and uh that word wrapped is used about Jesus on on three different occasions in scripture it's used again when he was going to wash the feet of his disciples right before he died and it says in the Gospel of John that he took out his outer garments and he wrapped a towel around his waist he wrapped himself in the Garb of a servant because if you want to make your life a gift for people then you just simply look for what needs to be done and you go ahead and do it and in that moment they needed their feet to be washed and so he said I will do that and then he said now what I have done for you you do for others make your life a gift to them just look for what needs to be done and then go ahead and do it. [00:08:17]

When you look at the lives of the people around you today, how can you make your life a gift how can you gift wrap it when you go to work when you're at home how can you notice what it is that would Delight people what it is that people need, I have one friend I was always struck by this when I would go to visit him he would never simply say goodbye to me he would always walk me out to his car I mean not to my car this is such a simple thing but it was making that moment of farewell into a gift. [00:09:34]

And of course our God does that as well the last thing that we read about Jesus after he died is that we're told that he this is told in all four gospels they've taken down from the cross and they wrap his body in Linens in burial Linens God gives his life. [00:10:08]

The act of wrapping a gift is symbolic of the deeper dynamics of gratitude. When we receive a gift, especially one that surprises us, our sense of gratitude deepens. This surprise element is crucial because it opens our hearts to wonder and appreciation. My wife, Nancy, has a tradition of purring like a kitten when she picks up a wrapped gift, embodying the joy and anticipation that comes with the unknown. [00:04:55]

As we reflect on these ideas, we are invited to consider how we can make our lives a gift to those around us. Whether it's through small acts of kindness or significant gestures of love, we can wrap our actions in thoughtfulness and care. By doing so, we not only enrich the lives of others but also cultivate a heart of gratitude within ourselves. [00:09:43]

Simple gestures, like walking someone to their car, can transform ordinary moments into meaningful gifts. By being attentive to the needs and desires of those around us, we can create a culture of gratitude and generosity. [00:09:56]