Gifts

In the book From Nature to Creation the section "Is Creation a Gift?" was extremely thought provoking.  When asked what is a gift many people go to material items.  However, in this section there are rules that must be followed in order for something to be considered a gift.  Those rules state that in order to be a pure gift it must be, "given without motive and without the expectation of return. If a return is expected, even if the return be so slight as the gift receiver's acknowledgment of and gratitude for the gift, then the gift is not gratuitous..."(pg. 145).  This puts very strict parameters around what is a gift and what is not.

In this section it continues on to say that the gift of existing and creation is the ultimate gift because there is no expectation for us to give something back.  Nature also gives us gifts all the time.  Again, this is due to the fact that nature provides humans with things we like and need but it does not expect us to return the favor or give something back to it in return.  By the end of this section the concept of gift giving between two human beings does not seem to be plausible.  The only type of gifts that are true, pure gifts come from non-human entities.

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