This is It - Episode 7: Healing

He ventured to return to his own town. The followers came along.

The next thing, they brought him a paralyzed man lying on a stretcher.

He saw their faith in him. 

To the paralytic, he said, Take heart: your errors are forgiven.

Some of the canon-lawyers said to each other, That’s blasphemy!

But he said, Which is easier to say:‘Your errors are forgiven’ or ‘Get up and walk away’? So you’ll know that this son of humanity, child of the earth, has earthly authority—he said to the paralytic—Get up, take your stretcher and go home.

The man, paralyzed no longer, got up, took up the stretcher and went into his home.

Onlookers were either terrified or praising the holy one that a mortal had been granted such ability.

Yeshua saw one of the onlookers at a toll station, Matthew by name, and said, Join me.

And they went to the house of Matthew, who was a tax collector; they and the students were joined at table with other tax collectors and other marginal people.

Pharisees addressed the question to Yeshua’s students: Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ungodly people?

Yeshua heard and said, The healthy don’t need a doctor. Go, find what it means ‘I seek mercy and not sacrifice.’ I’m here to call the godless, not saints.

John’s students asked, We fast, as the Pharisees do. Why don’t your students fast?

And he said, The wedding party does not mourn while the newlyweds rejoice. When the groom is taken way, they will have reason to fast.

An official of the town came to summon him. My daughter has just died, but if you put your hand on her, she’ll live.

They got up to go, and a woman came from behind and touched the hem of his cloak.

Yeshua paused, Courage, your trust has saved you, and she was healed of her excessive bleeding.

They passed on the official’s house. Yeshua said to the crowd gathered there, Be on your way. The girl is just sleeping. They laughed at him. He pushed through the crowd and took the child’s hand.

She woke up.

They left, and were followed by two blind men. Have mercy on us, son of David, they called out. 

Yeshua touched their eyes and said, Let it be for you according to your trust.

Their eyes were opened.

Then a mute person was brought; it was presumed a demon had silenced him.

Yeshua whispered in his ear. 

The man spoke.

Even though he told them not to divulge what had been done, word got out.

Yeshua and the students went out to the towns and villages, where he taught, proclaimed the good word, and healed. 

The crowds needing healing grew and grew, and he felt sorry for them.

He said to his students: Ample the harvest, too few the workers. The harvest master must send workers into the fields.And he deputized them to heal.

Go out, with only the clothes on your back. I send you like sheep into packs of wolves.  But, it’s enough for the student to be like his teacher. Don’t fear those who kill the body; they cannot kill the soul.

I did not come to case peace over the land. I came to wield a sword to separate people from wrong thinking.

Whoever receives a prophet by the name of prophet will receive a prophet’s pay. Whoever receives a just person by the name of a just person will receive a just person’s pay. Whoever gives a lowly person even but a drink of water by their name, as my student, you will not forfeit your pay. 

John, in jail, had heard of the work. He sent the question through his students: Are you the one who’s coming, or should we expect another?

Yeshua said to them: Go back. Tell John what you hear and see. Blind people see; lame people walk. The dead rise, and the poor are given good news.

And as they went away, Yeshua spoke to the crowd about John.

You went to the desert to see what? A prophet? A prophet, yes, and much more. About him was it written, ‘Look, I send my messenger to prepare your road ahead of you.’ He is the Elijah to come. Those with ears to hear, hear!

© 2020 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen and songsofasouljourney.blogspot.com

A brief note about my literary exploration of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth: I have undertaken this exercise having read, sung (in several languages), meditated and prayed on the contents of the Synoptic Gospels (as well as the Non-Synoptic Gospels) for at least 45 years. In that time, I’ve accumulated a bit of a library (which comes as no surprise to those who know me), and I try to follow modern scholarship. Here is a partial list of the authors and books that come to mind as I write these episodes:

Ballentine, Debra Scoggins, The Conflict Myth & the Biblical Tradition; Oxford University Press 2015

Erdman, Bart, various titles

Gaus, Andy, The Unvarnished New Testament; Phanes Press, 1991

Herzog, William R., Parables as Subversive Speech; Westminster John Knox Press, 1991

Louden, Bruce, Greek Myth and the Bible; Routledge, 2019

Tatian, Diatesseron; www.earlychristianwritings.com/diatessaron.html

Wajdenbaum, Philippe, Argonauts of the Desert, Routledge, 2011

Ward, Keith, The Philosopher and the Gospels, Lion Hudson, 2011

Yosef ben Maityahu (Titus Flavius Josephus), various writings

A Message for the Season: Preach the Gospel of Peace

For more than half my life, this time of year has been accompanied by multiple performances of Handel’s Messiah. I have sung all the different historical versions of this oratorio, both as chorister and as soloist. I have three different editions of the score for this masterwork, and these are the most used scores in my music library.

The libretto for this oratorio was assembled by Charles Jennens, who used snippets of biblical scripture to form a narrative that follows the church year from Advent through Easter. With every year and every single iteration, I discover and hear the piece anew.

This year, four sections of Part II stood out for me, although I would rather have them heard in a different order. In Scene VI of Part II, the bass sings the aria, Why do the nations so furiously rage together? This is followed by the chorus, Let us break their Bonds asunder.

Here are the complete texts for these two sections that comprise Scene VI:

ARIA – Bass

Why do the Nations so furiously rage together? and why do the People imagine a vain Thing? The Kings of the Earth rise up, and the Rulers take Counsel together against the Lord and against his Anointed. (Psalm 2:1-2)

CHORUS

Let us break their Bonds asunder, and cast away their Yokes from us. (Psalm 2:3)

This year, I felt as though the two sections from Scene V, immediately previous to Scene VI, should follow these texts.

ARIA – Soprano

How beautiful are the Feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. (Romans 10:15)

CHORUS

Their sound is gone out into all Lands, and their Words unto the ends of the World. (Romans 10:18)

This year, 2017, has been difficult and painful in so many ways it would take too long to enumerate them all. I know so many who have been personally anguished, injured, suffered financial setbacks and job losses. Friends and family members have died, as well as exemplars and cultural heroes. Our family has experienced all these things; perhaps, so too has yours.

This country has become mired in cynicism and hypocrisy that is being played out in the highest government offices by people who mock the notion of common good; such people actively work against equality, each according to their need. These people are not “public servants” but are rather self-serving.

The Nations of the Earth may engage in this “game of thrones” – but, the planet cannot survive such hubris, much less the inhabitants. We must break the bonds of… what, exactly? Power? Wealth? Narcissism? The bonds are cultural, and not limited to our culture alone; but certainly our culture has driven this venality and actively unraveled our national sense of empathy. Portions of our citizenry have been taught to fear and despise others, and those defined as such are treated as scapegoats for every problem we experience.

We learn about this in grade school, don’t we? About petty bullies mistreating people they have objectified and labeled as inferior. This thing we learned about in grade school is being played out big time in our national life, and is threatening all our international relationships.

What is to be done? What can we do? What can I do, or you?

We can Break their Bonds asunder. Those people do not speak for me or for you. They may cast their edicts, but we know the truth behind their lies. We can and we must act to do the right thing, whenever and however possible, despite the warped edicts of petty despots and bullies.

How do we Break their Bonds asunder? By Preaching the gospel of peace, and sending that message out from our homes and into our neighborhoods, towns, cities, counties and states. What is the gospel of peace, precisely? It is the message that we all belong, that we all have dignity; and we honor this by working toward peace, by spreading good will, and acting toward goals of mutual good with everyone we meet. This is true citizenship.

The Kings of the Earth will fall from grace. Well, to be honest, some of them have never had anything akin to grace, in the first place. We can't let that stop us from working as a positive force for good. We might yet fold the negative into the positive...

My wishes for you on this day, at this hour – and in all the days and hours that follow:

• Only do to and for others what you would have others do to and for you; accept every gift of grace and good intent. 
• To break the bonds of oppression asunder, counter negativity and bad actors by doing good and spreading good wherever you are. 
• Watch for those who need assistance, and offer it however you can; even a smile can change a person’s day.
• Preach the gospel of peace and harmony; you don’t have to be loud, obnoxious or even religious to make your glad sound go out into all lands.

All of you are beautiful, who spread the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. I give thanks for the many of you I am fortunate to know and encounter in my life! 

May the light of your peace illumine every place where you step foot, and may 2018 be a year of blessing and positive transformation for you, your families – and your communities.

Random Acts of Generosity: Spitting in the Wind or Casting Bread on the Water?

This past Friday, I kicked off my birthday weekend. Here are some highlights of the transition into my 56^th year: I baked three cakes and gave two of them away; I gave away three lunch bags, each to a homeless stranger (one was a veteran who had served in Iraq); I wrote three letters, each one to someone with whom I had not been in touch with for some time.

I seldom talk about the things I do for others; I really believe that the things you do secretly for others makes it more about them. But today is my birthday, and I have decided to make confessions.

For many months, if not the past several years, there has been a sense of unease growing inside me, mainly resulting from the quickly growing economic disparity within my community. Throughout the region, the numbers of homeless have grown. Housing for many is threatened by decreases in availability and increases in cost, while wages have been stagnant in most sectors except tech, banking, property development, and a few others. The drum is beaten against the sensibility of tying minimum wage to a cost of living index; even at a rate $15 an hour, who can survive on it?

There is unrest; there is violence; there is anger.

During the 1960s, when I was a kid, there was a “can do” attitude. There was a notion that we could tackle problems like illiteracy and hunger and solve them. Not only could they be solved here at home, but throughout the world. People were committed to this notion.

What happened?

The simple answer is greed happened. Institutions of all shapes, sizes and purposes have been carved out. Corporate stockholders are less likely to invest, more likely to sell off. Municipality, transit and utility boards have been deferring maintenance for decades, so that people at the top can make more and more money. The centralizing, commodifying, chartering and privatizing of everything is squeezing our institutions for every dime possible, while delivering their missions less sustainably and reliably. The so-called “sharing” and “gig” economies are merely code words that mean “we can’t make it with one job alone.”

Humanity bought capitalism and capitalism is failing humanity.

All of this makes me angry. My family struggles to make more and more money, and we have much, much less. And we look around and see that we are not alone in the struggle.

Of the issue of homelessness, people are quick to say that millions and millions of dollars have been applied to solve it and have not done a thing. “Spending money on homelessness is like spitting in the wind” is a sentence I have actually seen in the editorial pages of my regional newspaper. This is too frequently an excuse to do nothing, or worse, to criminalize vagrancy. “If we must have homelessness, I don’t want to see it” is the attitude.

So the can is kicked down the line to the next generation.

People, this just will not do.

But it is my birthday – this is my party. I could “cry if I want to”, as the lyrics from Lesley Gore’s 1963 song suggest, but I’m not going to do that.

I am going to live more audaciously, as the sermon I heard last night invited (thank you, Rabbi Judy Shanks!). That impulse to brazenly, if in haste, pack some food into flimsy lunch bags and hand it out my car window when encountering someone in need – I want to live like that, casting what bits of bread I have on the water, sharing it with a stranger.

The truth is that each of us has the world; we don’t need more than that. But what we possess, we must responsibility to uphold and steward. There is plenty, if we will but share. But this giving, we have to do it, we have to live that, every day.

Today is my birthday (and the birthday of the world!). It’s my party, and I declare it’s our party, and I invite you all to join me, in whatever way you can.

What you will do? How will you cast your bread on the water? What random acts of generosity will you perpetrate?

– Wait, don’t tell me. Let it be a surprise!

Meditations in Fast Times: 23. Not at the farther shore

Note to Readers: “Meditations in Fast Times” is a devotional writing experiment for the Season of Lent. Each day during the season, I am writing a poem as a meditation on, taking as my inspiration and intertextual basis, T.S. Eliot’s “Four Quartets”, as well as incorporating the daily office, current events, and other readings—some the same as those Eliot used while composing his seminal work and others.

                23.

Not at the farther shore,
but the nearest one,
Not only for the ducks,
but for every living thing,
life-giving bread is cast.

When clouds are full,
they empty their tears
upon the grounded years
of all our knowing,
a gift and a blessing.

Loaves divided with love,
fragments of fish add flavor;
give a portion to seven
or even one thousand,
for who knows about tomorrow.

Sacrifice cannot be denied;
we receive only by giving,
water and fire cannot destroy
the meeting of I and Thou—
it is for this that we were made.

© 2014 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen

How To Give Thanks

Greet the morning sunlight,
both as friend and miracle.

Feel each footstep
as a handshake, as a greeting;

Know that every touch
is an engagement with All That Is.

The whole world is smiling at you;
smile back, with warmth and feeling.

Let the empty chair fill itself,
Keep your door open to opportunity.

Drink deeply from the well of possibility,
the source of the river of life.

Take a slice, accept your portion and be filled;
share with family, friends and those in need.

Respect the wonder of Earth’s vegetation,
medicine for our health and wellbeing.

Know that each conflict has built into it
an opportunity for healing and renewal;

Move beyond the frayed fabric,
find a proper loom for mending, and be glad.

The star-kissed wind blows through you;
sing praises, sing praises, sing praises!

Weave yourself into the earth;
it will be glad to accept you,

And offer you back, as a restorative gift,
to this world of wonder.

© 2013 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen

Add Light and Stir

Hear ye, hear ye! Mercantile and personal greed meet in the newest American reality-show, “Black Thanksgiving; the pre-pre-pre-Holiday Sale Event of the Year!”

This can only be further proof of the madness of crowds, but it also confirms something I have thought for many years: I live in a sick and dying culture.

Never in my wildest dreams could I have envisioned people camping outside department stores on a holiday, in order to fight their way in to fight over bargain-priced mass-produced (in China) consumer junk. But, this is the twenty-first century, and here we are, with tent cities emerging in shopping malls, days before the National Thanksgiving Holiday.

Skewed priorities? Understatement. There is no more pitiful commentary on the American public than that it has been bred and trained to shop and spend. The appropriate Pavlovian response to “bargain pricing” is buy more.

The camping shoppers are a horrible contrast to the tragedy of homelessness. The shopping centers will be providing port-a-potties and security for encamped shoppers. Homeless will be rousted from their encampments and charged with loitering, unless they can find a shelter that has room for them.

Thanksgiving is an American Holiday; oddly enough, it is about giving thanks. (One would think that self-evident.) One can set aside the history of the occasion, but not the intention. This holiday is not about overeating, watching football games, and sitting around, but if it is not about those things, then it is certainly not about shopping.

Truly, we should be giving thanks each and every day for the many blessings that we are lucky to enjoy. So many people live the delusion of self-sufficiency and the caricature of “self-made” that it is hard to consider that we actually have no hand in most of the blessings we receive. Yes, yes, yes, we work and we earn, but we are constantly rewarded—even when we do not deserve to be—with beauty we have not created, plenty we have not earned and kindnesses we take for granted.

The Holiday of Thanksgiving should be about thanks, yes, of course. But more it is about giving. The thanks resides appropriately in giving, or in giving back. Said another way, to paraphrase Patrick Dennis’ larger-than-life “Auntie Mame”, life is a (pot luck) banquet, where everyone brings something to the party, each according to their ability or talent. It’s not about me, it’s not about you; it is about all of us, together, giving a little here, doing a little there, to keep the whole train on the tracks and running smoothly down the line.

The blackness of Black Friday (now turned into Black Thanksgiving and even Black Wednesday, in many places) is all about balancing the end-of-year financial books of capitalism. This blackness is indeed blacker than black; it belies the truth that life is not money. Life and living require the giving (with thanks) and receiving (with thanks) of integral use and the attendant reciprocity of generous renewal. The greater American public is really good about using, not so accomplished when it comes to generosity or renewing, much less with properly cleaning up after itself.

We need to do something about this blackness. We need to add light, generously and to taste; we need to add light and stir.

How do you bring light? You bring light by giving, generously, audaciously, unexpectedly, continuously. Smiles, hugs, food, gifts, right-of-way, all of these gifts and more  are waiting to be given and graciously received by someone. Our better natures need a good diet, light and exercise!

Are you the light of the world? Prove it. We need your light now, more than ever. Light the lamp of your soul and pour it out generously. Show us all how to dispel the blackness of our soulless society.

Hear the words of the old Rolling Stones song:

May the good lord shine a light on you,

Make every song you sing your favorite tune;

May the good lord shine a light on you,

Warm like the evening sun.

May your Thanksgiving holiday be filled with thanks and with giving and with the beautiful light you bring to share at the banquet of life.

May the good lord shine a light on you, so you can shine your light on the world!

As a descendant of those families that brought you the Thanksgiving holiday, in advance, I give you thanks for all that light you are about to recklessly strew about.

---

Shine A Light lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, ABKCO Music Inc.

Support Your Local Arts Organizations

If you live in a metropolitan area, anywhere in the world, you likely have the opportunity to enjoy museums, dance and music of all types. Some of the venues are big; the arts organizations that use those venues are generally large and possessed of budgets to match.  

There are hundreds, even thousands of arts organizations that do not appear in large venues, do not have large budgets. 

Most of these groups are non-profit organizations.

Ticket sales typically cover less than half of the cost to put on even the lowest budget production.

In these depression-recessionary times, people are cautious about making donations. Fewer people attend art events. There are more non-profit arts organizations competing for fewer grants. Patronage is still available for artists and arts organizations through the National Endowment for the Arts and other agencies, but there is a disproportionate number of needy artists and arts organizations in need, as compared to the funds actually available at a national level. This means very few organizations that apply will actually receive a grant.

What many people don't realize is that many small donations can make a big difference in the life of an arts organization. Micro-giving is no joke, but is the very latest technical innovation in arts organization financing.

I am associated with a number of struggling and worthy arts organizations, and while I won’t monetize this blog for my own benefit, I will use this space to help others, from time to time.

One of the many worthy organizations that could use your financial help is San Francisco Renaissance Voices, a professional mixed-voice ensemble dedicated to performing and exploring the a cappella choral music of the Renaissance particularly lesser-known and rarely-performed works, as well as exploring music from this period outside of the traditional European canon.

This wonderful singing group is having a very tight time financially this summer and needs seed money to get the wonderful season of music they have planned off to a start.

As unbelievable as it may seem, you could help by contributing to this group’s Micro-Giving Campaign by donating just $5, $10 or $20. You can donate electronically at

http://www.sfrv.org/

or if you want to write a check make it to "SFRV" and send to:  SFRV, SAPC - 1329 Seventh Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94122.

You could become a patron of the arts for just a few dollars!

I appeal to you, my wonderful readers, in appreciation that the arts and social media offer the opportunity to change lives in creative and positive ways.

Give now, for art's sake!

No Soliciting Sign

I have had a small sign posted in the window by the front door for years. It says, very simply, “No Soliciting”.

Every solicitor and door-to-door evangelist or canvasser on the planet ignores the sign.

I now have a larger sign in the window. Bold. Clear. Red and White. Let us hope it garners more attention.

However, what I really need is a huge banner, unfurled somewhere near the mailbox, perhaps even completely obscuring the front porch. The banner would read “No Soliciting”, in big red letters, but it would also contain the following, in smaller print:

We honor your religious views and your spiritual calling.

We currently subscribe to more newspapers and magazines than we can read.

We shampoo our own carpets.

We believe in a higher power.

We support—yea, even demand—democratic process.

We know about global warming; we're trying to lessen our footprint.

We are trying to get rid of stuff, not acquire more.
We drive as little as possible (because it is expensive).
We are taxpayers, and we like it that way.
We are activists.
We help our neighbors.

We are community volunteers.

We give food to the Food Bank.

We give clothing to the Shelter.
We support ASPCA.
We shop locally.
We recycle, repurpose and reuse and reduce.
We honor the Union label, and prefer it to Made In China.

We buy Girl Scout Cookies from Girl Scouts we know.

We give what money we can to just causes.
We are tired, downtrodden, poor and harassed.
We have to listen to the whine and hum of machinery all day, everyday.

We consider our home to be a retreat from all that and, with all due respect, from you.

We did not ask you to come with literature and a pitch for money.

We don't care that you have a license from the city to be doing what you are doing.
We do not have money for you.

We wish you well, but please, respect our privacy and leave us alone!

We give you our blessing to try your luck down the road!

Luna Tick

Having scored
a miserable scrap
from the all-night diner,
he capers about,
possessed of a lot,
though not a car;
he dances a jig,
joyful and complete
under a full moon.

He belongs
in the world,
and, tonight,
the world
belongs to him.

© 2011 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen

My holiday appeal to you, Gentle Readers:

The meaning of the season is not to be found in shopping, acquiring, accumulation and conspicuous consumption. Consider a different making a different kind of gift.

Please give generously to local charities that help people in need by providing food, clothes and temporary shelter, holiday meals, gifts and cheer. The world is a harder and more difficult place this year than it was last year, and there are more people than ever on our shores in need of services our government will not fund. 

Kindness should be extended to those in need everyday in a year, but these winter months are the most difficult. Sharing even a little of your plenty with another is a choice that can make a huge difference in a person's life.

Blessings to all of you!

Offerings

Sun beams light everywhere;
rain blesses the desert places;
trees reach up to the sky
and bend their arms to make shade;
rivers and steams quench the fields;
seeds rise from prayer,
firmly planting their feet
in the soft and willing earth;
flowers unfurl their colorful smiles;
fruit falls into waiting hands;
grains wave on their stalks;
I give a freshly baked cookie
to a stranger walking by;
Moon draws all to needed rest
—life is an eloquent exchange
of offerings 

made for no better reason than 

just because.

© 2011 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen

Epiphany: Be The Gift You Give

/ɪˈpɪfəni/
–noun

3. a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or 
commonplace occurrence or experience.

4. a literary work or section of a work presenting, usually symbolically, 
such a moment of revelation and insight.

I have skipped the first two meanings because, though they are relevant to the word, they are not relevant to my post.

This post contains a personal short personal story:

I grew up dyslexic. It was possibly a mild condition; I don't know because where I lived, no one tested for anything like that. All I can be sure of is that I was one of millions of undiagnosed kids who struggled with reading. I was slow to learn to read. I was a terrible speller. When I wrote, I would skip or reverse words. When I read aloud, I would skip or reverse words, lines on the page would bleed together, my eye would skip suddenly to the next paragraph. I am a musician, and so my reading challenges reside in that skill set, also. My scores of complex music are often littered with pencil markings that roadmap for my eyes what I am meant to see, rather than fall into the trap that my dyslexic perception will lead to.  

This condition did not stop me, I am happy to report. My mother was personally involved in making sure that I learned to properly read. We read at home after school all through third grade, when my teacher noticed that I was behind the rest of the class. One day, the key went in and turned all the tumblers, and even though I still struggled, at times, a love of reading caught at me, like a fire. That was an epiphany time for me, if not a moment, then over the course of months. When that fire started, nothing could keep me from reading, and soon, despite my struggles, I was reading books ahead of my age group. I ended my high school years as an Advanced Placement student of English. I am a college graduate and a published author. I can swim with words; I do not drown.

I now have children of my own. When they turned three, I started to teach them how to read using the book Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons. They did not show symptoms of dyslexia. One was a little slow to get started and is a poor speller--this is not a huge problem. The kids love to read, and they love to express themselves in writing. I could not ask for anything more.

Being out of work at the moment, I have offered more volunteer time at my kids' school, helping in one of the third grade classes with reading skills, one-on-one with a few students who are struggling.

Then, on the school yard, one morning, a friend casually mentioned that her son is having reading trouble. I said, oh. She said, yeah, he is dyslexic. I said, oh. Well, she said, we have him working with a tutor once a week, and it is helping but... I said, you know, I am dyslexic; if you want, I would be willing to work with him. She said, wow (probably because my admission caught her off guard), hmm... well, I'll think about it. I said, I hope you consider it; tutors are great, but sometimes that isn't the same as sitting down with someone who has been there.

I did not expect to have it come up again. You know, whatever the situation, sometimes people feel funny about accepting help from people they know.

But, today, my friend came to me after school and said, I want to talk to you.

She took me up my offer. We talked about arrangements and such. She said, I really appreciate you doing this. I said, in this world of budget cuts and program elimination and such, where we can, we need to help each other. She nodded and said, if there is any way I can pay you back, let me know. I said, hey, if not for me, for someone else--when you find a place where your gift will fit, give it there. We are all supposed to do for each other where the need is.

She said, wow, I wish there were more people like you.

That was an epiphany moment for me, and also a coming full circle. There are more people like me out there. You, for example.

I invite you, on this first day of Epiphany and, indeed, for the rest of your life, to be the gift you give. Be there for someone in need. Volunteer. Share your creativity with the world. Smile. 

You are a gift and you have at least one gift to share (if not an array of talents)--and the world needs you!