Pearls of Giving

I come from two giving grandmothers. One gave constant prayers for her family and families around the world. She gave away part of the family dinners to a family less fortunate down the block. My other grandmother gave away food, flowers for her church’s Sunday services each week, and her handmade crocheted doilies or afghans to nearly everyone she encountered. There was no end to my grandmothers’ giving natures.

Today, people are more likely to give others COVID. Why are we not masking and thinking about giving others their healthiest chance to be COVID-free when we enter crowded public transportation? What are we missing in this millennium?

I wrote these lines and then re-read them. These thoughts emerged from opposite parts of my personality! Sometimes a mind feels like a seesaw with up-then-down thinking. I return now to thoughts of a giving legacy.

At Printer’s Row Lit Festival this weekend I witnessed a giving man at the book-selling space next to mine. The man looked through a lovely children’s picture book, Seeking Best Friend, written by Angela Marcotte and illustrated by British Diane Ewen. A woman stood next to him, also flipping pages of the promising pictures. She said she wanted to purchase a copy for her school’s library to support friendships among students. The man turned to her and announced that he wanted to pay the $20.00 cost for her copy! She was stunned. The author was stunned. I was captivated.

I am reminded of the giving nature of a Canadian Haida man, Bill Reid (1920-1998). A prodigious artist, Reid was a gifted jeweler, painter, sculptor, and wood carver. He wished to seek the best relationships among Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in fostering an accurate history of Canadian culture. Mentoring Indigenous youth with an interest in the arts through internships was a giving goal. 

Due to discriminatory edicts of the Canadian “Indian Act,” where women marrying a non-Indian were expected to give up their native heritage, Reid was not told about his First Nation ancestry. While his mother had Raven matrilineage of the Haida Nation, his father had Scottish-German heritage. However, in his teen years Reid noticed Haida symbols on the gold and silver jewelry worn by his aunts, sisters of his mother. He discovered his silversmithing ancestors. He later became involved with totem pole salvage and restoration.

Reid’s yellow cedar carving from one wooden block, The Raven and the First Men, tells the creation story of his mother’s people, the Haida. After flooding, a raven detects a clamshell, partially buried in sand. Inside the protective shell are cowering people. Raven coaxes them out to explore new possibilities. This magnificent work of art was unveiled by Prince Charles, now King Charles, at the Museum of Anthropology, in Vancouver in 1980.

Our planet needs our giving possibilities.

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz:

115. What giving examples have you experienced in your life?

116. How might you engage in some giving legacy?