When I gather flowers for the vase at our home, I receive them as gifts given to us from our garden. Now the Rambutan and Cashew trees are flowering and the Bell fruit tree is full of its fruit!
When the jack fruit is served on the table, it becomes the food for us to receive! The flowers, the flowering trees, the raw fruits and the ready to eat fruits- they tell me the incremental nature of the gifts we receive from our garden!
The food when consumed, gives us calories and nutrients for our body! The fruit once taken is broken down to become the nutrients and they loose their shape, size, and distinctive appearance. They nourish the body and are even forgotten afterwards.
This process of loosing the identity to nourish the body of those who eat the fruit engaged my attention today.
This is the true nature of a gift. Once the gift is passed on to the receiver, the gift and the giver fade away sooner or later.
It was while remembering the story of Developmental Paediatric Unit at CMC Vellore, when it completed its 25 the year a few days ago, I took time to remember all the residents, consultants, nursing staff, support staff and the administrative officers of CMC Vellore, who brought gifts of mindfulness and kindness during my 11 years from its beginning in 1997. Their self giving presence and service got integrated into the story of that Unit to make it what it is in 25 years. They nourished the Unit, and what and how they did are integrated with the history of that department. Their giving made the Unit to be what it is today.
I had the e-mail of some of those who were at the Unit from its start in 1997, to whom I copied the link to the post I wrote on this blog on 24 Feb 2023 to celebrate the 25th year of the Unit. The two replies I received encouraged me immensely!
One of them was most generous in appreciation:
' Thanks a lot Dr. Mathew. It was a privilege and a blessing to work with you and the team . You will always hold the honour of being my first “boss”😊. I learned a lot and the time with you there, helped to build the foundation of where and who I am today. Yours and Ma’am’s dedication and answer to God’s call has been such a blessing not only to the children and families whom you served and continue to serve, but to the many of us who worked with you. As demanding and challenging as the work in Dev Paed was, I loved the hard work, team spirit and sense of calling we shared. You and Ma’am took such effort to help us feel welcome and wanted, with the dinners and fun games which you hosted despite your already tight schedules. Thanks for thinking of me and forwarding me the note and article. May God continue to bless you, Ma’am and your family as you all faithfully serve Him'.
The above words of kindness and appreciation is an expression of incremental giving! Having experienced and received encouragement, she recalled what she still remembers of her experience 24 years ago.
I pondered over the way I live! How much I receive each day from many people as acts of their kindness! How can I be in this habit of incremental giving to bring cheer to others!
It is natural and even normal to forget acts of kindness. But if we can recollect and recall, we live with this incremental awareness of the several gifts of kindness and self giving we receive each day from many around us!
That creates an ambience within us to live humbly and gratefully because we have been formed by people around us! Our lives carry the marks and benefits of gifts of love of many from our childhood!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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