All gifts I give my brothers are my own.
It is one thing to sing in the shower and another to sing in a chorus. It is one thing to laugh at a joke alone and another thing to laugh when you tell a joke to another person.
There are things that are much more enjoyed when we do them with others such as forgiveness, kindness, understanding, mercy, and of course, love. We can’t give what we don’t have. We can’t share what we don’t possess. So one of the paradoxes in life is that we receive more when we give it away. Therefore, we can say, “All gifts I give my brothers are my own.”
Today’s lesson is well exemplified in the twelfth step of Alcoholics Anonymous where it is suggested that we reinforce our own program by sharing it with others. We learn what we teach.
In Unitarian Universalism, in the third principle, we covenant together to affirm and promote the acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth. In other words, we practice what we preach and it becomes clear that all the gifts I give my brothers and my sisters are my own. We are not mimicking or parroting or saying do as I say not as I do. We try to walk the talk and teach by example and in this way the gifts we give are something we, ourselves, own.
Today, I strive to be authentic, and genuine and realize that the gifts I give my brothers and sisters are deep down not only my own but increase as I give them away.
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