The Incredible Gift

How to be at home . . .

I asked of the Creator Source one day, ‘why am I here and for how long?’

A voice whispered closeby, ‘You are to receive my humble gift.’

A gift! 

I was elated and curious all in one moment and I began to ponder the nature of the gift.

I wondered if it was something material that I could treasure and hold onto . . . something that would make me rich beyond all comparison.

           

I wondered if it was an experience that would blow my mind and elevate me beyond my highest expectations.

 I wondered if it would envelope me in shrouds of luxury or plumes of delight.

I wondered if it held the most precious gems and was encased in the rarest of metals.

I wondered if it would secure my marriage and bless my children until the end of my days.

I wondered if my life would be one success after another with no thought of failure or lack.

I wondered if it would contain all the ingredients of happiness and luck.

I wondered if it would solve all my problems before they even began and if life’s contradictions would cease.

I wondered if I would surrounded by a loving family and a host of loyal friends.

I wondered if it would take away all of my pain and suffering, doubt and depression.

I wondered if it came freely or if there was a price.

I wondered where the gift was . . .

I asked again, ‘how am I to find this gift?’

A voice sounded in my head, ‘Open your heart and receive it.’

Nothing . . .

. . . still nothing.

I felt frustrated and intolerant as I looked and listened and yet I saw nothing of what was promised.

‘It is all around you,’ urged the Voice inside of me, ‘I gave you the gift of Life. 

'Where else could you have had the experience of love and the joyful laughter of a peaceful heart? 

Where else could you have smelt a rose or tasted the fresh scent of a squeezed pomegranate? 

Where else could you have discovered the length and depth of your feelings or the crazy thoughts of your creative genius? 

Where else could you have wept with sadness at the extinction of a species and wept with joy at the discovery of another? 

Where else could you have gazed at the stars and seen them from your own unique perspective? 

Where else could you have experienced all the creatures that share your world with you or the trees that bring so much of themselves for you?

 Where else could you have built your castles and monuments from the raw earth which lay beneath your feet? 

Where else could you have been birthed by, not one, but two parents and been surrounded by a family who resembled yourself?

 Where else could you have plunged to the depth of your own internal hell, only to emerge strengthened and victorious? 

Where else could you have brought your life to a bitter climax of rage and fury and tasted the fruits of it? 

Where else could you have moved through the deaths of yourself so many times that you lost count? 

Where else could you have witnessed the grief of those who stayed behind? 

Where else could you have explored the cruel separation that you insisted existed between us? 

Where else could you have experienced any separation at all? 

Where else could you pretend that you were all alone and that nobody cared? 

Where else could you dig deep into your own sense of dignity on the eve of your crucifixion? 

Where else could you stand back and take all of life in and realise that it is a gift and all it takes is for you to be present?’

I felt humbled . . .

I asked one last question, ‘and if I truly receive this gift?’

The voice boomed in my head once again, ‘Then you have come home.’