One day two lads were walking along by the river. They noticed a pile of clothes on the bank. A man was swimming in the water a little way off.

“Hey,” one of them said. “Let’s hide his clothes and see what he does!”

“I don’t think that’s fair,” said the other. “Look at the state of them. He must be quite poor.”

”You’re right. Ok, then, here’s what we’ll do. Give me the ten pounds you just got from gardening.”

“What?”

“It’s Ok. I’ll use my ten as well. We’ll put one in each shoe and then hide!”

The other lad smiled. “Hey, good idea!” he said.

So they placed the notes in the shoes and hid themselves to see what happened.

The man came out of the water, attended to his clothes and then noticed the shoes. He picked out the notes from each one, looking all around him. He was amazed. He looked up into the sky as if they were a gift from God. The lads were left with a deep feeling, grateful for the opportunity they’d had to give rather than receive.

Sometimes when we give a gift, do we always need expressions of gratitude from the receiver? Around Christmas time there are plenty of people who would benefit from a Secret Santa – and no! – I don’t mean anything to do with Cadbury’s! – but a box or bag of food/goodies left on their doorstep, in the spirit of Christmas.

Written by Mike Humphreys, Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints

To share an insight about how your faith impacts your view of things, please contact: faithviewpoint@gmail.com.