The greatest gift of all

When you are planning a gift, it can be hard to know what a loved one might need or want. There is one gift that is truly one-size-fits-all, and when truly given, it will not break, but will grow stronger year after year. What is that greatest gift? It is the gift of love, manifested through time, kindness, service, and care for others. Essentially, it is the gift of self.

As you wrap up the loose ends of the year, remember to take time for things that matter, and above all, give the greatest gift one person can give another — the gift of love.

Love is patient;
love is kind;
love is not envious
or boastful
or arrogant
or rude.

It does not insist on its own way;
it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice in wrongdoing,
but rejoices in the truth.

It bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things.

Love never ends . . .

And now faith, hope, and love abide . . .
and the greatest of these is love.

I Corinthians 13:4-8, 13 (RSV)

A gift of music

In keeping with the gift theme, I wanted to share one of my favorite poems, Christina Rossetti’s “In the Bleak Midwinter,” beautifully set to music. I had heard it for years before I stopped to listen to the words. It is beautiful — I hope you enjoy it. You can read the poem and hear another version of it at the Excellence in Literature site.

And finally, the giveaway

In the last post, Third Day Naturals was offering a selection of their lovely skin care products for one of our blog readers. We used the Random Name Picker and entered each entrants initials to choose our winner:

CA translates into Christina Anne, who will have the fun of choosing fragrances for her goodies. Thank you to all who entered!

We wish you joy throughout this season, and in the New Year!

*The manuscript illumination at the top of the page was created using a portion of Three Wise Kings from the Atlas Catalàn, 1375, Fol. V. This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.