“The greatest gift my friendship can give is the gift of my presence.” — Henri Nouwen
The first text came to my phone two days prior. The next day followed with a dozen or so texts, emails, and Facebook messages. Then on the ‘actual day’, it was a constant stream from 5 a.m. until well after 10 p.m. Each and every one of them was a gift — a blessing.
I love celebrating my birthday!
When I was a kid, it was all about the gifts, the party, and the German chocolate cake. But at some point, my understanding of the blessing of the day shifted as I began to see more clearly what the real gifts were.
In the gift of this new day,
in the gift of the present moment,
in the gift of time and eternity intertwined,
let us be grateful,
let us be attentive,
let us be open to what has never happened before,
in the gift of this new day,
in the gift of the present moment,
in the gift of time and eternity intertwined.
Longtime friend and colleague, Celtic theologian John Philip Newell, shared the above words at a retreat we were leading more than two decades ago. They became a significant part of that shift in how I understand the word gift.
Well past my childhood, I still loved getting presents on my birthday. Yet as life has gone on, I have come to realize that the real gifts do not come in a box with a bow, but in the present moment — and in who you get to share it with.
The FaceTime with my family, the fun and snarky texts from my siblings and friends, the Facebook posts and messages from a lifetime of friends and colleagues, a long conversation with a friend I’ve known my entire life, and dinner with good companions on the journey — these were the gifts of my birthday.
They also served as a powerful reminder of the importance of continuing to invest in and nurture the gift of relationships in your life — and, just as importantly, to do the hard work, to the best of your ability, to mend the fences where relationships have become strained.
“In the end, it is the relationships that save us.”— Frederick Buechner
And perhaps that’s why the psalmist reminds us,
“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)
BP