Making Gifts
Gifts are meant to be given freely, although there generally exists the idea of reciprocity, and the person receiving the gift usually feels the need to give something nice in return. Within many social structures exchanging such gifts as money, different goods and so on can contribute to the social coherence and cohesion. There even is such a thing as gift economy. So, economists have made up this notion of making gifts into a new branch of economics. In a more extended sense, the term "gift" makes reference to most anything that has the capacity of making the other person if not happier, at least less sad, and is seen as great favor, often unexpected, and including the elements of kindness and forgiveness.
Gifts have a special symbolism in religion. For instance, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, the wine and bread given at the Liturgy are called "the Gifts" both from the religious community to God, and from God to people, since they represent the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Savior.
Still related to the Judeo-Christian tradition, an interesting fact about it is that in it God is perceived as a gift-giver of plenty good things to humanity: "But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have comes from you, and we give you only what you first gave us!" 1 Chronicles 29:14 New Living Tradition (NLT). Even life on earth is a gift of God and Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 5:19 that to receive wealth and good health from God to enjoy life is a good thing. "To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life - this is indeed a gift from God."Ecclesiastes 5:19 (NLT).
Later on, in Christianity, the most important gift of God is the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who was given to us because God loved the world so much that He wanted us to have life and not to die furthermore the only way to receive life is to put our trust in Christ, God's Son. Another gift of God, still part of the Holy Trinity, is the Holy Ghost: Peter replied told the early Christians that after the baptism in Christ's Name, they will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Another essential and wonderful gift offered by God to believers is the gift of everlasting life; although we deserve death because we are sinners, the free gift of God is eternal life through His Son Jesus Christ.
Apart from all these gifts, there are many other spiritual gifts that God is willing to offer to his people in order to improve their lives, strengthen the church and be of great help to others: the gift of healing, the gift of teaching, the gift of speaking in tongues, the gift of performing miracles, the gift of encouraging, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, the interpretation of tongues, wisdom, discernment, knowledge. All these gifts GOD continues to give His people as He pleases, each of God's children receive some of these heavenly gifts trough the generosity of Jesus Christ!
As far as material gifts are concerned, the package does play a significant role. The wrapping differs according to different cultures across the globe. In Western countries for instance, gifts are usually offered in wrapping paper, often together with a gift note on which it may be written the recipient's name, the giver's name, the occasion, the date, and so on. Chinese people on the other hand consider that gifts wrapped in red paper can bring about luck.
But the best gift wrapping artists are definitely the Japanese. They give a special meaning to the act of gift wrapping, as they regard a simple piece of paper meant for wrapping a gift as the mirror of the soul. So, they mix yin and yang elements, therefore ancient and modern, earthy and heavenly, rustic and elegant. They use complicated techniques that may also give a clue about the content of the package. After all, let us not forget that the Japanese are the great masters of paper folding, the famous origami.
