…that is the question. No, really: that is the question this week. One of Jesus’ more famous sayings is “It is more blessed to give than to receive” – but which do you prefer?
Of Hobbits and Presents
“Hobbits give presents to other people on their own birthdays. Not very expensive ones, as a rule, and not so lavishly as on this occasion [Bilbo’s eleventy-first birthday]; but it was not a bad system. Actually in Hobbiton and Bywater every day in the year it was somebody’s birthday, so that every hobbit in those parts had a fair chance of at least one present at least once a week.”
from The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
To Give or To Receive?
Be honest now: do you prefer giving gifts or receiving them?
I confess, I tend to enjoy receiving them more, unless I can find “the perfect gift” – something that I know the recipient will love. That is a thrill from the moment I think of it, through the moment I track it down, until the recipient finally opens it.
It does not happen as often as I’d like. Perhaps this implies that some of my friends and family (you know who you are…) are harder to shop for than I am?