THE GREAT GIVER

"Waiting for Santa", oil,
by Roxanne Steed

     There are some colorfully wrapped gifts under our Christmas tree today, but they don’t come close to matching the gifts Delycia and I receive each day – each moment – from “the great Giver”, a name one of my favorite writers gives to the infinitely kind and giving universe. Each moment, the gift of breath is given to our lungs, again and again, perhaps 20,000 brand new breaths each day. Each moment, too, our blood brings the gift of fresh, spotless oxygen to our cells, helped, of course, by the gift given with each pump of  our hard-working hearts, again and again, perhaps 100,000 pumps each day. And then there’s the gift of our thoughts, those always surprising presents that somehow unwrap in our minds in a nonstop way -- maybe 60,000 mint-condition thoughts each day. So I guess each day, each second, is truly Christmas for us as we enjoy this generous universe we’re privileged to be part of.