The last time we spoke of meaning as a sense of worth and purpose. We may see our life as the gathering and gift of self–the gathering of ourselves into our hands as something of value in order to give ourselves to something worthwhile. Our sacred worth is something we discover–not prove or acquire. It is a gift to accept, honour, and live according to, in ourselves and others.
I would suggest further that every experience has an underlying pattern –that of a gift and call. It can be seen further as a gift and call to bring something to life in self, others, our world, rather than put something to death. Even further it can be seen as the gift and call to bring something to live even out of the many deaths in the midst of life. I find this model best illustrated in a Grimm’s folktale.
===============================================================
THE OLD MAN AND HIS GRANDSON
There was once a very old man, whose eyes had become dim, his ears dull of hearing, his knees trembled, and when he sat at table he could hardly hold the spoon, and spilt the broth upon the table cloth or let it run out of his mouth. His son and his son’s wife were disgusted at this, so the old grandfather at last had to sit in the corner behind the stove, and they gave him his food to eat in an earthenware bowl, and not even enough of it. And he used to look toward the table with his eyes full of tears. Once, too, his trembling hands could not hold the bowl, and it fell to the ground and broke. The young wife scolded him, but he said nothing and only sighed. Then they bought him a wooden bowl for a few pennies, out of which he had to eat.
They were once sitting thus when the little grandson of four years old began to gather some bits of wood upon the ground. “What are you doing there?” Asked the father. “I am making a little trough,” answered the child, “for father and mother to eat out of when I am big.”
The man and his wife looked at each other for a while, and presently began to cry. Then they took the old grandfather to the table, and henceforth always let him eat with them, and likewise said nothing if he did spill a little of anything.
===================================================
In the story, the couple first see themselves as independent, self-reliant, and in charge. They see life chiefly in terms of the functions or roles that people have, rather than in terms of the relationships they form. They see life in terms of what people do rather than who they are. As a result, they see the old man largely as a burden, an unwelcome obligation, As a result, the grandfather feels unwelcome and is filled with sadness and perhaps despair.
But the action of the child really hits home to the couple. They begin to realize their hurtful insensitivity, and start to see and treat the grandfather differently. They begin to regard him as a person to be cherished rather than just a nuisance to be tolerated. They come to a new way of seeing things, and so to a new and more compassionate way of acting and living.
In other words, a new insight or awareness is given to them, and with it comes the challenge to act accordingly. A new way of seeing is given to them and a new way of acting is demanded of them. This is true, perhaps, of every human experience, although it is most noticeable in the deeper ones. In every human experience, possibly, something is given to us and something is called forth from us. In this perspective, every human experience is to some extent both a gift and a call (or task).
As an example, with the gift of friendship calls forth the task not to betray it. The gift of entrusting our hopes and fears calls for honouring that trust.. Even the painful the loss of someone close summons us to cherish their heritage and deal creatively over time with our grief.
The gift and call themselves have a pattern? If the couple in the story did not change their treatment of the grandfather, they would further hurt and sadden him, perhaps even kill his spirit. On the other hand, their caring response could help to heal his wound, gladden his heart, and bring new life to his last days. A friendship betrayed can kill that bond, whereas honouring it can enrich and enliven that friendship.
In this perspective, the gift and call open up two possible directions: either to bring something to life or to put something to death in ourselves and others.. We can move either towards life-giving or death dealing; create life or destroy it. And this direction can refer to all the forms and dimensions of life–physical, emotional, mental, artistic, economic, political, international, etc. The basic gift and task concerns life and death: bringing to life or putting to death.
In this perspective, then, in every human experience, though most noticeably in those that are deepest and most crucial, we are enabled and summoned to bring something to life rather than put something to death in ourselves, in others, in the society and world we live in. So, our life story is the story of many gifts and tasks or calls that are woven into our lives, and it is the story of the ways in which we respond to the gift and call, whether in a life-giving or a death-dealing way.
To go a step further, we can also speak of being enabled and summoned to bring something to life, even out of the many deaths in the midst of life–arising from disappointment, sickness, failure, loss, rejection, hatred, social injustice, and anything else that takes life away in self and others. A vividly concrete example of bringing to life, putting to death, and bringing to life even out of death is found, respectively, in procreating a child; in neglecting, battering or abusing a child; and in bringing an abused child to physical, emotional, mental, and other forms of health. This last instance is a case of bringing to life even out of the many deaths in the midst of life.
May you come more and more to realize your own sacred worth, that of persons near and far, and of all living beings, and of all that is. May you come more and more to experience and live your life as a gift and call to bring something to life in yourself and others and our world, even out of the many deaths in the midst of life.
Norman King, October 15, 2025
