Why do we give gifts during Christmas? Obviously, the answer to this question is multi dimensioned, nuanced, and expresses itself in like a gem with many facets, each colored and beautiful to look upon. The first and foremost reason to give gifts is to be imitators of the Holy Trinity. The Father gave his one and only Son for us and the Son willingly gave himself for us. Christmas is meaningless without Christ and the reality of Reality becoming incarnate. This has been elaborated upon in theologically significant and more poetic ways than I can even hope to imitate, so I shall not dicsuss it further. But it is where I am coming from. Second, and what a close second it is, we give out of love to our friends and family.
But what is a gift? This evening I was given a very good gift; better than I could have asked for and more meaningful than I can express. My aunt and uncle gave me a humidor. It's nothing more than a box made of wood that holds cigars and is designed to keep them from drying out. My uncle had in turn received it from my grandfather, who had himself used it for his own cigars.
I propose this, much in contradiction to Magritte and his La trahison des images where he proposes that his pipe ”n'est pas une pipe,” that gift-giving is the giving of yourself. Let us look at what Magritte says. He states that ”this is not a pipe.” The picture is of a pipe and, although Magritte is correct to say you cannot smoke it, I think he is wrong to say it is not a pipe. While it is not a pipe proper, it is an image of a pipe and resembles the pipe proper and points to it.
I think this is what gift-giving is, the giving of images of yourself. You are the ”yourself” proper and the gift points to you. Thus, with my newly treasured (and I really do mean this in a non sentimental dribble way) humidor, it points to my grandfather and to my aunt and uncle. I literally possess a piece of my grandfather.
What does this say about gifts then? I think it certainly says that all gifts are not equal, which is the main reason I am writing this. I hate gift-cards. I think they are lousy gifts and here is why: They have no permanence in our lives. If we give gifts out of love in order to be remembered and gift card fails in the second part of gift giving. A gift-card does not really point to the gift-giver, and even if it does, it does not do so for very long because it is spent. However, gifts that last are the best gifts. The sense of permanence in one's own life is extremely valuable. It shows that the person is with you and will remain with you. We are our gifts and we should give ourselves well. Give in love. Give in truth. Give in peace.
But what is a gift? This evening I was given a very good gift; better than I could have asked for and more meaningful than I can express. My aunt and uncle gave me a humidor. It's nothing more than a box made of wood that holds cigars and is designed to keep them from drying out. My uncle had in turn received it from my grandfather, who had himself used it for his own cigars.
I propose this, much in contradiction to Magritte and his La trahison des images where he proposes that his pipe ”n'est pas une pipe,” that gift-giving is the giving of yourself. Let us look at what Magritte says. He states that ”this is not a pipe.” The picture is of a pipe and, although Magritte is correct to say you cannot smoke it, I think he is wrong to say it is not a pipe. While it is not a pipe proper, it is an image of a pipe and resembles the pipe proper and points to it.
I think this is what gift-giving is, the giving of images of yourself. You are the ”yourself” proper and the gift points to you. Thus, with my newly treasured (and I really do mean this in a non sentimental dribble way) humidor, it points to my grandfather and to my aunt and uncle. I literally possess a piece of my grandfather.
What does this say about gifts then? I think it certainly says that all gifts are not equal, which is the main reason I am writing this. I hate gift-cards. I think they are lousy gifts and here is why: They have no permanence in our lives. If we give gifts out of love in order to be remembered and gift card fails in the second part of gift giving. A gift-card does not really point to the gift-giver, and even if it does, it does not do so for very long because it is spent. However, gifts that last are the best gifts. The sense of permanence in one's own life is extremely valuable. It shows that the person is with you and will remain with you. We are our gifts and we should give ourselves well. Give in love. Give in truth. Give in peace.
What I always found interesting about the "this is not a pipe" painting is that the sentence "n'est pas une pipe" is as much a part of the painting as the pipe. So one is immediately led to imagine a meta sentence which says 'this is not a sentence." Just as the apparent pipe is not really a pipe, by the same logic the apparent sentence is not really a sentence. What looks like a pipe is really a collection of different colors painted onto a canvas, and the same goes for what looks like a sentence. Thus, in a way, the painting refutes its own meaning; if it says anything it also says that the painting itself cannot really be saying anything.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very astute observation, Jon.
ReplyDeleteThere needs to be a button that says, "I read this; I just did not have anything intelligent to add."
ReplyDelete