One of the things I find irresistible about the Great Smokey Mountains National Park is the hundreds of small streams that seem to flow around every curve in the road.  I took this photo a few months ago while on a weekend visit to the park.  I parked my car and just walked down this secluded mountain road and before I had walked 20 minutes, I had come across several small falls like this one.  I remember walking up to this spot and shutting my eyes; first I listened to the sounds of the water as it splashed out its melody against the smooth rocks.  Next, I took in the aroma of the damp forest, and then I opened my eyes and tried to connect all the pieces of this immense mystery.

                 As I watched the leaves tumble down from the massive trees above and fall down to cover the rocks below, it felt a little like Christmas.  I envisioned the trees as dear friends that were showering me with gifts.  They had saved up all year and worked through the heat and the rain to prepare me this gift; and here I stand opening my presents.  I also noticed that the waters before me were not some stagnant pool standing dead and motionless, but a steam that was full of life and constantly giving.  Then I realized that the stream was living because it was giving.

                Is that not the way all of life is?  Giving is the secret of a healthy life.  In this world it is not what we take up but what we give up that makes us rich.  True happiness is found when we choose to give, rather than to grasp.  When we become like the mountain stream and choose to share the blessings we have received, then all around us prospers and life finds its deepest significance.  We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.

                I have also noticed that what I kept, I lost; what I spent, I had; what I gave, I have; because it is the joy that you give to others that comes back to you.  Generosity and charity is never lost.  It may be met with ingratitude, or be of no service to those on whom it was given, yet it always does a work of beauty and grace upon the heart of the giver.  A generous action is its own reward.  Love has a way of healing people; both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it.  Remember, A bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives you roses.

Something to think about:

• Each day comes bearing its gifts, Untie the ribbons.

• A man there was, and they called him mad; the more he gave, the more he had.

• All we can hold in our cold dead hands is what we have given away.

• Giving is the thermometer of love.

• If you have love in your heart, you always have something to give.

• Love is like the five loaves and two fishes. It doesn’t start to multiply until you give it away.

• Love is my decision to make your problem my problem.

Thankful for the gift of giving
Rickey Moore